


Lucky! (I’m in love with my best friend)

by HikariHM



Category: Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Coping, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, First Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Light Angst, M/M, Puppy Love, Slice of Life, because y’all know me I can’t write long works without a good touch of angst, childhood AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28637853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HikariHM/pseuds/HikariHM
Summary: After his parents divorce, Steven is left feeling unlucky; he might have it all, except his parents together.But this apathy, this lingering bitterness comes to an end a fated day when he meets this boy who instead of calling his rocks boring, listens.What starts as a casual friendship, turns into everything they care for, their shared loneliness leads them to become the only ones to understand the other, and soon enough, they share everything; their happiness, their sadness, their fears, their secrets, promises, everything they are.However, the uncertainty appears in front of them as they get closer and closer: how is a friendship so holy like theirs supposed to thrive when Steven isn’t meant to stay at Sootopolis forever? Of all those feelings, what will be left, then?
Relationships: Mikuri | Wallace & Tsuwabuki Daigo | Steven Stone, Mikuri | Wallace/Tsuwabuki Daigo | Steven Stone
Comments: 34
Kudos: 34





	1. Unlucky

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! As always, I’m back with another long fic! This one, in fact, occurred to me before both Breakable Heaven and A Second Chance, it’s been in my drafts since 2019 and all because one day I saw a fanart of them together as kids while I was having lunch with my friends, and the whole idea from beginning to end played in my head from that moment in which I was having lunch until I was free to go home after a college meeting, and I’m happy that after all this time it finally gets to see the daylight!
> 
> The posting dynamic for this one is gonna be a bit different from the usual: as the chapters individually are very short to suffice a weekly update, I’m going to post 3 chapters per week. It’s gonna be a rather short and slightly more lighthearted story, and I hope y’all enjoy it!! All these formalities being said, I leave y’all with the first 3 chapters of this week!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven feels like he has no reason to feel lucky at all; however, his lucky star isn’t as broken as he think it is, and a special encounter awaits him.

Steven was always told he was a lucky kid; he had a beautiful mom and a rich daddy, a fancy house, all the toys he wanted, attended an expensive school, had many caretakers and cleaning staff around him to suffice his needs anytime.

However, at this moment, Steven didn’t feel like he was lucky, at all.

Today, the weather outside was what the sailors would call a fortunate one: the sun was bright in its higher spot, lighting up the whole city, giving it its warmest hours; the spring was shining in all of her beauty, with flowers falling from the trees, green palms swaying back and forth, dancing with a soft ocean breeze, that all together, would make feel anyone lucky to be alive, alive right there, to witness this mysticism nature had to offer.

However, Steven couldn’t bring himself to care about any of those meaningless things. He felt so weird, so unlucky there, in this foreign, secluded land, in a room that wasn’t his, where he couldn’t play with his father’s Pokémon, or have him teaching him about rocks; instead, against his will, he was here with his mom in a borrowed house from one of his mother’s friends, while she arranged everything she had to settle before leaving to Kalos now that she was divorced from his Daddy and couldn’t stand the idea of living with him anymore.

The divorce had been awful; it were too many curses, too many arguments, awful bickering, until they decided to split, and the process of picking who he was better off staying with had felt like someone turning off his lucky star, leaving only a broken family, and the shatters of what one day had been good and felt safe now cutting him.

To try to distract his mind from the fact he wouldn’t be in Rustboro with both his mom and dad anymore, that he had to be now in this stupidly hidden place of the region because his parents couldn’t do better, he was laying on his bed, reading a geology illustrated book his father gave him before his mother took him to Sootopolis. This, until she called his name from the living room. 

Sighing, halfheartedly, he placed the book aside and went out of his room to head to the living room where this woman with short brown hair and dark blue eyes wearing glasses was reading and highlighting a newspaper while drinking a steaming cup of coffee.

“Come here.”

He approached her and she held him tight between her arms, ruffling his hair lovingly.

“My little Stevie, what were you doing, mmm?”

“Reading,” he answered shortly. 

Cupping his face between her ringed hands, she talked to him, sweetly, “why don’t you go outside and take Aron for a walk, hm? The day is beautiful today.”

He hummed, hesitating, “I don’t know...”

“Come on, Stevie, I don’t want you to stay here dusting up like an old doll. If you go out for a bit you’ll have lots of fun and maybe find some children your age to be friends with, people here are too kind.”

Steven remained silent, pouting even.

“So, honey? Are you up to it?”

He answered nothing. 

“And if I asked you to bring some rocks for me? Would you do it?”

His face lit up significantly, and finally he agreed. So, without any other word, he returned to his room to get Aron’s pokeball and when he was again at the living room his mother had a bag ready for him to save the rocks he’d find.

“Can I go now, Mom?”

She nodded, “sure, Stevie. Just be here for dinner, please.”

He received a kiss from his mother and then left the place. Once outside, he released Aron from his pokeball and together they started to walk down the streets, from the middle section of the crater to the lowest region, stopping every now and then as he’d find some particular rock and store it in his bag, excitedly. 

However, every little joy he could feel on the road quickly wore off as he walked all by himself, and encountered other people: complete groups of friends were laughing one with another, outside someone’s home, some kids would be running down the streets in swimsuits every now and then, and as well, there were families gathering together, with a mom and a dad getting along perfectly well and taking care of their children just as they should.

Just like Steven should be able to do; to be with his friend Richard playing video games at his house, to have lunch with his mommy and daddy and laugh. Not to be here, trapped in this crater, faraway from his life. He shouldn’t be here feeling this alone and unlucky.

However, he tried to console himself saying that he had his totally cool Aron by his side, being his best friend, the only one to truly understand him and not play with his feelings or make him pick sides on petty arguments.

And, that was why he got so startled when, all of the sudden, Aron left his side and started running to some unknown direction. Anxious because of this sudden sense of loneliness and danger, and scared his best friend could get lost, Steven started to chase after him, though struggling to keep his pace as neither he was used to running and it had been quite a time since he last did any kind of physical exercise.

After some minutes, Steven could finally reach Aron, who was standing a few meters apart from him, beside a group of wingulls which were being fed by a boy dressed like a sailor and wearing a white beret over his teal hair. 

“Oh, an Aron!” He exclaimed with a very sweet voice, surprised. “You are truly beautiful! Just look how shiny your metal skin is!”

The little monster cried contentedly.

“Oh, you want a block too?”

Aron nodded. 

Kneeling, with his little hand, the kid lended a color block to Aron and told him some nice, loving words in the process. When he lifted his face, finally, he realized Steven was there.

“Hah, is this your Aron?”

A little flustered, Steven nodded.

“I had never seen one in real life. Yours is truly beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Steven said, but now he was curious. “What did you feed him with?”

“These?” The child inquired, motioning the hand with which he was holding the food. “These are pokéblocks.”

“Pokéblocks?”

“Yeah. It’s a special food for Pokémon made with berries. Some Pokémon are very sensitive to its smell so they come to have a bit.”

“I’ve never heard of Pokéblocks before.”

“They are mainly used in contests to enhance some of the Pokémon qualities, like their cuteness or smartness,” the kid explained enthusiastically, as if he had no one else to talk about that. “The local gym leader, who is also a well known coordinator, made some and gave them to me! He’s so cool and nice...”

Somehow, the cheerful attitude of the boy in front of him had softened his own mood, and Steven smiled lightly. 

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Wallace, and you?”

“I’m Steven Stone.”

“Nice to meet you, Steven Stone,” Wallace petted one last time Aron’s head, and when he rose up from the ground to approach Steven, the pack of Wingull flew in every direction. “By the way, what do you have in that bag? It seems heavy.”

“Rocks.”

“Rocks?”

“Yeah, my Daddy has a big collection of rocks and I’m starting mine!”

“Oh, a collection? Can I have a look?”

All day he had been feeling so down and suddenly this sense of excitement overflowed him; it was notorious, so much that Wallace was smiling broadly at his reaction.

“I hadn’t found anything really rare yet…” he explained, in case Wallace was expecting to see something shiny and special. “But at least I’ve got these peeves that had some different characteristics that the ones I’ve found on Rustboro, because Rustboro is an urban location and Sootopolis is-”

He suddenly stopped.

“What’s up, Steven?”

He looked away, a little embarrassed, “I’m sorry. You maybe don’t care about this. I have this bad habit of talking way too much when it comes to my rocks.”

Wallace hurried to shake his head, “n-no, please, don’t stop! I’d like to know the differences!”

Astonished, Steven raised his brows and opened his mouth, not believing what he just heard. Most times the adults, except for his father, would ask him to leave his rock stories for another time, and his classmates would directly tell him to talk about something less lame than that.

“Really? All my friends say rocks are boring.”

“Well, it’s not common to talk about rocks but you seem to know a lot. So, please, tell me about your rocks.”

For a few minutes Steven talked non stop about the differences of Sootopolitan rocks to Rustboro ones, as well he gave further details about where he found the rocks he had with him at that time, while Wallace asked him more and more questions, to them just listen carefully to his answers, some very trustworthy and spoken very confidently, some others rather made up in the air.

“You know?” Wallace prompted happily, and then, got his hand inside his pocket and took out a rosy stone. “I found this when I arrived here to feed the wingulls.”

Steven gasped, amazed, “It’s a rose quartz!” He exclaimed. 

“Oh, and are quartzes any good?”

“Quartz is a special mineral because it can be formed in any kind of environment which is pretty awesome, but some people would say they are ordinary for that. Though I don’t think so, I think every rock is amazing in its own very way, and the one you have is pretty beautiful, I must say!”

“Heh, now it’s yours.”

“Really? You want to give it to me?”

“Since you know so much about it I want you to keep it.”

And Steven accepted it, with all the joy of his heart, “thank you so much!”

“I’ve never seen you around here before,” he prompted, keenly. “You moved recently?”

“Actually not.”

“Oh?”

“It’s only temporary. My parents just divorced and my mom is going to move to Kalos. She wanted to spend some time with me before that, and she has a friend here who told her we could borrow her house to stay on a vacation while she arranges what she needs to live in Kalos.”

“Ah, I see...”

Steven couldn’t help getting tense and bitter talking about that and Wallace noticed, so he smiled understandingly and shifted to another conversation topic.

“Well, If you are new here, what about I showed you and Aron the city?”

“I don’t want to bother you...”

“Hah, Steven, you are so formal. Of course it is not a bother.”

“O-Okay! Aron, you wanna come too?

He nodded, joyfully.

“Great! Let’s go, then!”

And they spent the rest of the noon together, walking up and down most of the city streets, having Wallace being quite the guide tour, surprising Steven with all the cultural knowledge a kid just his age had about an entire city.

* * *

When the door cracked opened, Edith was at the kitchen, and she grinned to herself at the sound of her 9 years old child breathing loud, excitedly. As expected, Steven went first to the kitchen to greet her. 

She gave him a loving glare, “who was the boy you came here with? I saw you both from the window.”

And her heart filled with tenderness when her son smiled a broad smile and his clear blue eyes shined, “he’s my new friend!”

“Oh, a new friend? What’s his name?”

“Wallace!”

“And how old is Wallace?”

“Nine, like me! His birthday was last month.”

“Ah, I see.”

And from his pocket he took out a little shiny rock, “look, mum, Wallace gave me this!”

“Did he? It’s beautiful.”

“And, and-” 

This feeling overtaking her body was sheer relief. For once in a while she saw Steven acting as enthusiastically and excited as any other child his age was supposed to, breaking free from his increasing apathy.

“He asked me more about my rocks, can you believe it? He doesn’t think rocks are boring and, ah, he’s so cool and nice!”

“I’m glad you made a new friend, Stevie.”

“He asked me to go fishing on Tuesday, tomorrow he must be at home helping his mom but he wants to go fishing this Tuesday and he told me he’ll teach me how, can I go with him?”

“Of course you can, honey.” And Steven hugged her briefly, and while she reciprocated lovingly, she could only wonder how nice must have been that kid Wallace to make Steven so happy. “Now, go and wash your hands, we’re going to have dinner.”

“Yes!”

When Steven walked to his room, Edith sighed, feeling at ease. Since both her and Joseph started all the legal process for their divorce their son had been pretty down and mostly apathetic to everything surrounding him. At elementary school his grades were a little lower than normal, he stopped hanging out with most his friends and would only meet with Richard to play video games, and when he wasn’t doing this, he mostly stayed locked whether it was on his room or Joseph’s library reading; not that Steven didn’t love reading prior to that, however, he abandoned all of his other habits and isolated, and whenever her or Joseph tried to confront him about that, he would stay silent.

Now it seemed like he could get better from his evident sadness. And as far as she heard, Wallace was a nice boy, good enough to snap Steven from this state she was afraid that she couldn’t personally heal him from since she was the one to inflict it on the first place.


	2. Maggie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven encourages his new friend to do something he haven’t done before, and neither seems to notice, but this means bigger than they think.

In the noon Wallace picked him up at his house. After a brief introduction with Edith, they both walked down the city to go fishing; the spot Wallace choosed was the extended water body that connected Sootopolis with the outside world.

“There,” Wallace explained on their way to the shoreline, “is where you can dive to get to the Seafloor and go out of Sootopolis. So, there are a lot of beautiful Pokémon that sometimes swim up to the surface and if we’re lucky enough we can fish one of them.”

Until they reached their spot, their talk remained trivial. Actually, Steven felt so comfortable around Wallace, as normally he could be so anxious of running out of conversation topics whenever it came down to his classmates, but with him, it was all so easy, giving that Wallace also had pretty interesting things to say and wasn’t bothered by silences.

Finally, in front of them stood the sea, and Wallace flipped both buckets where the rods were transported so they could use them as a seat. Then, he prepared the rod adding some special bait, and lended his respective one to Steven. 

He smiled, “here.”

“You are going to tell me what to do, right?”

“Hey, there's no need to be nervous,” Wallace chuckled. “You’ll see, fishing can be actually a little boring.”

“Why?”

“It takes its time.”

He grabbed his own rod with determination. “Now, let’s throw them.”

Steven stared briefly at Wallace, who grinned back at him reassuringly.

Certain that if he screwed it up Wallace wouldn’t get mad at him as he was learning, sighing, he threw the bait into the water. 

“Nice job!”

Wallace did the same and then sat down.

“Now what?” Steven asked, mimicking his friend’s actions. 

“We wait.”

As a response, Steven hummed and rested his hands on the palm of his hands, “okay...”

Some minutes went by like that, both silent, lost in their own thoughts and listening to the water murmur anticipating something to happen. 

Steven hummed.

“Is everything alright?”

“How did you learn to fish?” 

“My father taught me when I was very little,” Wallace answered casually. “Once Master Juan asked him to help him with a pack of sick corsolas. I watched them both fishing and it was so amazing I asked my father to teach me!”

“I guess you’re pretty good at fishing then.”

“I manage,” he laughed flustered at the compliment. “Though both Master Juan and my dad did it better.”

“Who’s Master Juan?”

“The gym leader.”

“The one you said that was so cool?”

“Yeah!” Wallace exclaimed. “Ah, I admire him so, so much. He’s so handsome, elegant, gentle, and strong. When I grow up I want to be like him.”

“A gym leader?”

“A coordinator. Though, I want to be a water type trainer like him.”

“So you prefer water type Pokémon?”

“All Pokémon are beautiful in their own particular way. Yet, water types are the most graceful and breathtaking for me.”

To that statement Steven drew a hand to his pocket where he started to play lazily with something. A bit shyly he glimpsed down at Wallace. 

“You have no Pokémon of your own?”

“Mom doesn't want me to have one. She thinks I’m going to get out of here as soon as I train one, so she doesn’t buy me any pokeballs. But, tell me, how did you get your Aron?”

“My Daddy took me once to a cave and helped me catch him.”

“He seems to be very fond of you.”

“We are very close friends. He’s with me when no one else is. And I can talk to him about anything and well, he's not like all the adults that go straight and shut you up or like bored classmates that only want to play and can’t never get serious.”

“Ah... I know what you mean… adults be calling anything that isn’t work or money a boring talk, and classmates, they are just too-”

Before Steven could hear the rest of Wallace's statement, the rod moved abruptly and both jumped in their places. 

They glared at each other, in a rush.

“It’s your rod, Wallace!”

“Hah, look how I do it!”

Proudly, he stood on his feet, grabbed the fishing rod and started to pull from it, struggling a bit, heavy breathing, getting even red for the excitement. 

And after some seconds, from the water emerged a pink, heart shaped fish Pokémon, and Wallace gasped.

“Ah, it’s so beautiful!” 

Yet, a pinch of disappointment could be heard at the edge of his voice, and Steven realized it, so he took out from his pocket a Super ball. 

“Use this!”

His mouth opened, quite incredulous, “should I catch it?”

“You want to befriend it?”

“I mean, yes! B-But mum doesn’t-”

“But you want it?”

Encouraged by his way to word this, Wallace nodded, “yeah!”

Steven lent the pokeball to his friend, and so, the other kid sighed deeply, holding the Super ball to his chest, and then bravely launching it in Luvdisc’s direction, who later dissipated into a white light and got caught inside the device.

It shook one time.

They crossed their fingers.

It shook another time.

Wallace started praying to Kyogre.

It shook a third time.

It was done. 

Both children burst in laughter, cheerfully, happiness beaming all around them. Then, Wallace picked the pokeball and held it against his chest, proudly. 

“I have my first Pokémon now... I can’t believe I have a Luvdisc!”

“I’ll apologize to your mom if she gets mad for this!”

“Hah, when she looks at it I swear she’s going to love it! Thank you so much, Steven!”

“I did nothing special, you know, it was you who caught it, and in your first try, no less!”

“You brought the Super ball.”

“I thought maybe it could come in handy.”

“Even if my mom gets mad I’ll always be so grateful to you for this! I love my Luvdisc!”

“Now, take it off! I want to see it!”

Immediately, Wallace did as requested, and threw the ball to the air, for the Pokémon to emerge from it and fall gracefully into the water again, crying just as excited as its trainer was. When Wallace got closer to it, the Pokémon like fish splashed gently. 

Wallace looked amazed to say the very least: adoration was clear in each of his features, “ah! You are so beautiful, my friend! Look at your scales! They are so pretty and sturdy!”

Eventually, Steven knelt beside him, “hello there, Luvdisc!” 

The little creature threw a bit of water to their direction, playfully. 

“Luvdisc are awesome. I’ve seen a gym trainer with one and... ah, I always wanted one.”

“How are you going to call it?”

“I don’t know, like, is it ‘he’ or ‘she’? or maybe they?”

Steven blinked puzzled. 

“I don’t know.”

“Mmm... guess I’ll look for that lady in the gym and ask her if she knows!”

“Oh, can I go with you?”

“Of course!” Wallace answered gladly. “If we’re lucky enough, maybe we will get to see Master Juan as well!”

“Lets go ahead!”

Wallace withdrew Luvdisc to its pokeball. Then, helped Steven to save all the fishing stuff back inside their buckets and diligently he led the both of them near to the gym. 

Steven didn’t know what to do since the whole building was surrounded by water. Wallace explained that the few times he had visited the place it was because Master Juan or some of the trainers had surfed him to the other side. He had Luvdisc, but he couldn’t be sure it would be capable of surfing them both giving its untrained status. 

Luckily, the gym trainer they were looking for eventually appeared in front of them, returning to work after her lunch break, and when she saw Wallace she stopped to talk to him. 

And they asked her all the questions they had about Luvdisc.

* * *

“How’s dinner, honey, is it nice?”

Happily, yet a bit tired, Steven nodded, and later, blinked for too long, his eyelids notably heavy. 

“Oh, are you tired already?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you do today that made you this tired, huh?”

Between his drowsiness he got to smile a beautiful, contented smile. “Today Wallace caught his first Pokémon, and it was his first time trying to catch one ever! Can you believe it?”

“What pokemon did he catch?”

“A Luvdisc.”

She smiled, “oh, Luvdisc are so cute!”

“Yeah. Then we went to the Pokémon gym and waited until a lady arrived and helped us to know more about Wallace’s Luvdisc. She’s a girl and he named her Maggie.”

“So, did you have fun today?”

“Yeah! I have lots of fun when I’m with Wallace. Like- he asked me to go visit him this Monday and have lunch with him, can I go?”

“Oh, Stevie, you are going to leave me alone for so long,”

Obviously she was kidding. Of course she wanted to spend quality time with her son before flying to the opposite side of the world far away from him, but if he was happy like that, she would rather not have him all day by her side than having him locked on his room for hours on end.

“Mom, please...”

“Okay, Stevie.”

“Thank you!”

“By the way, your dad called looking for you. I told him you’d be calling him later, so go and do it once you are done with dinner.”

For her surprise, he looked glad to hear that, surely because he missed ranting with his father about rocks. When the both got together they were unstoppable, they were the loyal incarnation of the saying ‘like father, like son’.

So, Steven finished his dinner quickly, went to his room to brush his teeth and put on a pajama since his mother asked him to, and then go to the living room where the telephone was and called his father; he told him about Wallace, Sootopolis, Maggie, and when he told him about the pink quartz their talk started to be all about rocks and they didn’t stopped until Edith told Steven it was a little too late to be still up. 

And, at the back of her mind, she couldn’t help to think as well that it wasn’t necessary for Joseph to be calling up Steven; they’d always have plenty of time to talk about their stuff, however, in less than a month she’d stop seeing his son.


	3. Play it up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Wallace let’s him inside his house, and shows him a bit more of what his life is, Steven suspects Wallace isn’t as fine as he plays up to be.

It was Monday, and as promised, there he was.

Steven was dressed as his mom usually would want him to; short slacks, a casual collar shirt, suspenders, white socks a bit under his knees, and black shoes. Not that he was dressed elegantly on purpose, it was more that he was used to wearing those sorts of clothes and felt comfortable in them. 

In his left hand he had a little flower bouquet his mother bought for Wallace’s, and with his free hand he knocked on the door. 

Few seconds later, the door cracked open revealing Wallace, dressed like a sailor as usual, grinning widely. 

“Hi, Steven!”

“Hello, Wallace!”

“Please! Come in!”

Steven did as requested. Once there, he took off his shoes, put on the sandals Wallace asked him to, and followed his friend to the kitchen where his mother was. 

“Mommy, Steven’s here.”

He saw her for the very first time; Wallace's mother was a tall woman, with pale skin, wrinkled teal eyes, she wore a long blue sundress, and her head was covered with a headscarf the same color to match her dress. Why was she wearing that instead of letting her hair loose? He didn’t dare to ask.

“Oh, hi,” she spoke with the very same strong accent Wallace did. “So you must be this Steven kid I’ve heard so much about these days?”

Politely, Steven bowed to her and then approached her, and lent her a hand so she could shake it, “I’m Steven Stone, nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“No need to be so formal, Steven. You can call me Faith,” She shook his hand, certainly charmed by his mannerism, and when she let go of it, she made a comment. “I assume your father must be Joseph Stone.”

“Woah, do you know him?”

“Well, everybody in Hoenn knows the Stone family. Besides, if I’m not wrong, I think once my husband helped Devon with some matter of sorts and he told me about the former president and the current one.”

“Yeah, that’s my dad!”

“Did I hear you both love rocks?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s quite funny when you realize your family name is Stone and you love stones. It’s like it was set on stone.”

Wallace just face palmed at the bad pun his mother threw there, however, Steven genuinely found it funny and laughed at it, which seemed to make Faith happy.

Then, in the middle of their casual chat, another woman entered the room. 

“Oh, so your friend’s here, Wall?”

The voice came from a tall young woman, with long teal hair and eyes a clearer shade of teal than her relatives’. She was thin, graceful, dressed up with a light blouse and a short skirt. 

And after walking in his direction with a very confident pace, she leaned to greet him, “Hi! I’m Meredith, what’s your name?”

“I’m Steven Stone!”

When he stretched an arm to greet her, Meredith couldn’t help but chuckle.

Then, Steven seemed to remember something. “Oh, I-I brought you this as gratitude for hosting me today.”

Meredith received the flower bouquet and it was enough for her to burst into laughter, to what their mother joined; Steven turned red, confused, not knowing exactly what part of what he did was so hilarious.

“Ow, you’re so cute!” She exclaimed, tilting her head. “Wallace, why can’t you be this polite? You should learn some mannerisms from your friend.”

He hissed, a little embarrassed, and then demanded something to his mom in another language Steven couldn’t recognize. 

And Faith also answered in another language. 

“Hey, you two stop talking Sootopolitan in front of Steven, he gets nothing of what you are saying.”

“I talk in Sootopolitan cause I don’t want him to know that you are such a bother!” 

“Hey, come on now guys. Wallace, Meredith, you both help me lay the table instead of bickering,” and she looked at Steven. “You, sweetheart, take a seat, okay? Food will be ready in no time.”

“You don’t want me to help?”

“Oh, no, sweetie. You are our guest, so, please sit and wait for us to have everything ready.” 

That being said, she stared at her daughter.

“You, go and put the flowers on water.”

Following her instructions, Steven took a seat around the table, and waited patiently for it to be ready. Less than 5 minutes after that all the dishes, glasses, silverware and napkins were spread all over the table, and Faith put in the middle two bowls with what seemed to be traditional sootopolitan food. They all showed gratefulness to their deities due to tradition, and started eating, to have both Wallace and Meredith joking about how it had been years since the last time their mother cooked something as delicious as that, how she was only doing this for Steven and that he should come over more often for this effect.

Steven had to admit he was truly hungry as he didn’t want to eat that much on breakfast so he had stomach to process whatever plate Faith planned on doing for him. So, he stayed quiet for some minutes, focusing only on eating. 

When he was a little more sufficed, he finally got to pick a conversation. 

“Ma’am-” he interrupted himself. “I-I mean, Faith...”

“Yes, Steven?”

“I must apologize for something.”

Both women exchanged gazes, raising their eyebrows curiously, their lips lifting up to form smiles. Then, she returned her teal gaze to him, “What for, Steven?”

“Wallace told me you didn’t want him to catch a Pokémon, yet, I helped him catch one.”

And then they burst in laughter again. 

“Oh, Steven, don’t you worry about that, I didn’t get mad at him.”

“Didn’t you...?”

“I promised her I won’t be leaving soon.”

Sending him a loving glare, Faith stretched an arm to ruffle his hair.

“However, I’m very curious to know how you managed to catch it.”

“Her. Maggie is a her,” Wallace corrected.

“Alright, her.”

“Well, the day we met I told Wallace that I had never fished before, so we went fishing and Luvdisc bit the bait and that’s pretty much it. I had a Super Ball my Daddy gave me before coming here, and gave it to Wallace so he could catch Maggie.”

“But- aren’t Luvdisc only found in route 128 and Evergrande city? I’ve never seen a wild one here in Sootopolis.”

“Yeah,” Faith agreed, “they aren’t common here.”

“I don’t know if they are common or not, but Maggie did appear in front of me and Steven, just like that.”

That time, the only one to chuckle in a failed attempt of discretion was Meredith, and because of such behavior, Wallace made a call out and their mother asked for an elaboration.

“Like, Maggie appeared in front of you two, all alone?”

“Yeah, why is that so funny?”

“Oh, seriously, Wall, hadn’t you heard what people say about what encountering a Luvdisc in the company of someone else means?”

Her mother gasped to the realization and punched her daughter’s shoulder very subtly. “Meredith, behave!”

She kept snickering mischievously, “I’m behaving! I’m just talking about what I’ve heard…!”

The boys exchanged gazes, puzzled as none of them got what Meredith and Faith were implying. 

“What is that they say about encountering a Luvdisc?” Wallace insisted, pouting.

“N-Nothing, Wallace. Your sister is just kidding.”

“Well, I’m not-”

“ _Meredith_.”

Finally, she gave in, but that grin on her face didn’t disappear completely. Realizing they wouldn’t get an answer, both kids resumed eating until finishing whatever was left on their plates.

Once they were done, Faith offered a delicious dessert she had prepared for that day, and then again, both her children teased her for putting way too much effort on preparing a dessert just because she wanted to leave a good impression on Steven. 

And when they all finished this lunch time, Wallace and Meredith cleaned up the kitchen all by themselves because Faith started to feel a bit tired. And as soon as the task was done, Wallace invited Steven to see his room.

They both walked to the spot that was the furthest to the main door, and behind the wooden gate Steven found a room all painted in light blue, the wooden floor covered with a violet carpet; placed against one of the walls was the bed along with its nightstand which stood between that and the window; in the opposite wall was a little desk and beside it a little bookshelf, and next to it was a dressing table with a big mirror attached to it and things like brushes, ribbons, hairpins and even makeup scattered there; next to the door was his closet, and all over the room where spread stuffed water type Pokémon; walls were decorated with posters of Pokémon contests, some pictures of women Steven could tell were probably contestants or singers, and maps. 

“This is my room,” Wallace claimed. “It's a bit tiny, and I’m sure your room has to be much bigger and full of fancy stuff and toys but I like mine very much!”

“Oh, but your room is nice, colorful, mine is blank.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Steven let himself wander all over the place; he took a corsola plushie from the carpet, and with it in arms, stood in front of the mirror, where the makeup caught his attention over again.

He grabbed a brush between his hesitant fingers, “do you wear makeup?”

This question seemed to make Wallace nervous, and if for a second he was about to deny it, he decided to act otherwise, “yeah, sometimes.”

He tried not to look judgmentally at him, but if he grimaced, it was just that he found it to be a little atypical, “why?”

“Well, lots of contestants wear it and I think they look absolutely stunning!”

“I see...”

“Well, most of the contestants that wear it are women, but I think men can also wear it and people shouldn’t call them things because of that. It’s just colorful paint.”

“I never saw it like that. I thought it was a girly thing only.”

“Oh, it’s normal that you think so,” Wallace said trying to come off casual. “But when you act for cameras you have to wear makeup to make sure your skin isn’t too shiny to the point it ruins the take! So it’s not a girly thing, it’s something all people in the TV do!”

“For real?”

“Well… some men also do it outside the TV but that’s also okay in my opinion!”

And he shook his head, chuckling.

“For now I’m just practicing for when my moment comes to be a contestant I can know how to wear it right.”

Steven blinked a little taken aback. If it had been another boy telling him that he wore makeup probably he would have judged him right away, however Wallace gave him another perspective about the whole matter and he realized the kid was pretty much confident about himself and wasn't afraid to be judged. Two qualities Steven wished he could have. 

“And what about the ribbons?”

“Heh, some contestants like to decorate their Pokémon’s with ribbons and stuff like that. Though I use them in my plushies.”

“Umm, I think I have another question.”

“What is it?”

“I’m curious... why do you always dress up like a sailor?”

His face lightened up and he smiled sweetly. “Well, mom likes to dress me like a sailor because my dad was one!”

The word ‘was’ caught his attention, and when he was about to make a remark on it, Wallace just kept talking. 

“My dad was a sailor in Slateport, so he traveled to a lot of places. One day his team had something to take charge of here in Sootopolis and that was when he met my mother and then they got married.”

Steven nodded.

“Shortly after, I think months, my mom got pregnant and that's when Meredith was born.”

“And what about you?”

“My dad had to keep traveling all around the world. He was a busy man and he wasn’t at home much, sometimes it would be several months for him and my mother to see each other. Because of that, and that mom had some problems, it took them 9 years to get pregnant again, and that’s why I’m 10 years younger than Meredith.”

Steven nodded.

“One day, when I was five, dad had to go on a mission. A nasty storm struck and all the sailors died.”

Well, Steven didn’t know what to say at that exact moment; it was true that lately he struggled a lot when it came down to his parents, however, it never had been that bad as to have any of them dying.

And what unsettled him the most was the normality with which Wallace spoke such painful facts; if something ever happened to his Daddy, Steven knew, he wouldn’t be able to call his name without bawling.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hah, don’t worry, Steven. I was too little when that happened, I don’t remember Dad that much since he always traveled.”

“But...”

“And I think I’m used to it,” he lowered his gaze all of the sudden. “I mean, I ought to get used to it, since my mom is-”

He cut himself off. Shook his head. And smiled a little exaggerated, “anyways, you wanna draw, Steven? I have plenty of colors and markers Meredith gave me on my birthday. Ah, and coloring books, lots of them.”

Honestly it shocked him the way his friend changed his conversation topic so out of nowhere. However, Steven was empathetic enough to know that Wallace was talking about something that hurt him and that he wanted to stop. So, without further questions, he simply dropped what he had been told previously and nodded.

“Yeah, though I’m not good at coloring.”

“Ah, don’t worry,” he drew a hand to his waist. “Do you want to hear some music too? I can ask Meredith to lend me her turntable and put on some of my records!”

“That sounds good.”

“Great, wait here while I go borrow it.”

And as if nothing had happened, they spent the rest of the evening together drawing and listening to music while making jokes and chatting about trivial stuff.

Although, there was not a second in which Steven could stop worrying about Wallace. As cheerful, lively and smart as he was, it shocked him to see him that sad and faking to not be shaken at all. That feeling inside him wasn’t the polite worry he had to show to his relatives or classmates, instead, it was an utter and sincere concern. 

And even if Wallace wasn’t aware of how much he had helped him by only being his friend, Steven wanted to reciprocate that and help him feel happier in case he needed anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand, this will be all for this week!! Hope y’all enjoyed these 3 little chapters of Steven and Wallace being literal babies uwu see y’all with other three chapters next Friday! Please stay safe!


	4. One hand allows the other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wallace talks about his biggest dream, and confesses to Steven why he knows it won’t ever become true.

After that day at Wallace’s house, they started hanging out almost everyday even if it was just one hour to play on the streets or to take a walk and talk. 

That day Wallace told Steven he’d take him to a high spot of the city that he loved to visit since it was peaceful and lonely. Because of this, he suggested that he wore more casual clothes because they would have to walk a lot and even hike a little to reach the zone they would stay in. 

After a while they finally made it to a hill really high up on the city, far above the sea’s level; It was plain green, with flowers blossoming between the weeds, as well as a few Pokémon wandering there. 

It was so high that they could see the top of the crater near them; maybe if the hill was a bit taller they could see to the other side, to the ocean. 

As they were tired from all the walk, they laid in the grass and stared up to the blue sky. While they rested there, the wind blew gently in their faces, keeping the hot weather of that noon still bearable. 

At some point Wallace felt thirsty and from a bag he brought with him he took a bottle of water and drank from it. When he put it aside, for one moment, he stared at Steven, specifically at his face; almost immediately Steven sensed the teal eyes scanning his features, and as Wallace wasn’t saying something, just watching, this made him slightly nervous and confused. 

“What’s up, Wallace?”

With simplicity, he answered, “nothing, Steven. It’s just that you are beautiful.”

His comment was sincere and there was not a hidden, mocking intention behind his words. For how he knew Wallace at that time he could tell he was doing the same kind of appreciation he made when he spotted a cute Pokémon, a beautiful flower, a nice rock… however, it shocked him to think that Wallace could see any of those qualities in him, as he didn’t thought of himself as a beautiful boy. 

Before he replied, Steven blushed and sat down, “of course I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. You could be a famous coordinator if you wanted.”

He laughed, “what are you saying?” He grabbed the same bottle of water that his friend just put aside and took a sip from it. Then, he finished his sentence. “If there’s someone here who’s beautiful enough to be a coordinator, that is you. And Maggie, of course.”

All the opposite than Steven, Wallace tilted his head after receiving the compliment and smiled broadly, “thank you.”

And then they went silent over again. And laid in the grass after drinking more water. 

It was Steven’s turn to steal a glimpse of his friend; his pretty features seemed to be at ease, as his teal eyes were as calmed as always. Yet, it seemed as though he was musing about something while watching the clouds flow by. 

Even if Wallace was an open-minded, friendly kid, a mysterious, mystical aura surrounded him, as Steven knew Wallace was a very smart boy, with way more knowledge about culture, language and history than the average children his age. 

“Hey, Steven,” he called his name softly, as if it mesmerized him to pronounce it.

“Mmm?”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I’ll be the next President Stone of Devon.”

“I must’ve imagined you’d said that,” he replied, dismissing the answer he got. “We’ve got roles we have to fulfill when we grow up. But besides that, what's your dream?”

“Oh...” Steven exclaimed, “well, I dream of having the biggest rock collection ever existing and travel all around the world to find new rocks.”

“So you want to be a rock expert?”

“And a strong Pokémon trainer.”

“I see.”

“And you, Wallace? What’s your dream?”

“I want to become a master coordinator, a very famous one. And appear on tv shows, interviews and magazines. Ah, and be a strong, elegant, talented water type trainer just like Master Juan is! Ah, I really want to be like him when I grow up.”

“I’m sure you’ll be.”

He hummed hesitantly for a while, “and, well, I also have this dream of making mom very, very proud of me. Though, I don’t think I can make this one come true.”

Steven turned his head to look at him, concerned, thinking that maybe this was Wallace self-deprecating, “why wouldn't you? I mean, I’m sure she’s going to be happy to see that her son is a famous coordinator! And even if she gets mad by the makeup stuff we talked about the other day, she must understand that’s who you are and be proud of you.”

Wallace smiled gently, seemingly glad that at the very least Steven had understood his opinion about men wearing makeup. But what he said next didn’t match at all the grin he was wearing. 

“I don’t think mom is going to live to watch me become famous.”

Oh.

So that was what he meant that time when he was talking about his dad.

Steven felt his heart skipping faster, encompassing the pit in his stomach.

He didn’t dare to make further questions since he screwed up assuming things. Yet, Wallace added more to this confession.

“She has cancer. Breast cancer.”

And it was as if the sun suddenly stopped shining, everything becoming cold, so very cold and dark.

“When we found out it was too late. Cancer had spread to other parts of her body and...”

His voice quivered. Painfully. 

“W-we don’t know how much time she h-has l-left. She- she c-could pass a-a-away anytime-”

And from one moment to another, Wallace started crying; not the cry Steven cried when he knew his parents were going to divorce, not the cry he cried when his parents scowled him, not the cry he cried when he didn’t get his way. This was a truly heartbroken crying, full of fear, uncertainty. A cry a boy so good like Wallace shouldn’t be crying. 

“I d-don’t want my m-mommy to d-die…! I’m gonna m-miss her s-so m-m-much-”

And he interrupted himself to draw a hand to his face, to uselessly attempt to wipe his own tears while he sobbed bitterly. 

Steven didn’t know what to do, nor what to say since listening to his precious friend like that broke his heart as well and gave him a lump on his throat.

That was why he silently held his hand, twining his fingers with his, lovely, and then, squeezed their union for Wallace to know he wasn’t alone, that he was here, for him.

And they remained like that for minutes, holding hands, in silence, there, up in the hill, their heads over the grass, as the waves kept crashing at the other side of the crater and the Wingull kept chirping, in a moment of shaky safety in which both could be themselves without fearing judgment.

Eventually, Wallace’s crying subsided and he kept gasping for another few minutes, until he was a lot more at ease. 

“Sorry for venting.”

He rushed to shake his head.

“No, no, don’t be sorry. I’m your friend. I’m here for you, whenever you need me.”

He nodded, wiping his face with his wrist, “it’s just that… I can’t talk about this with anyone else. I don’t want to worry Meredith since she’s been so stressed out trying to find a job, and Mom doesn’t need to feel guiltier about leaving me, but, when I think about it I get really sad, I can’t help it.”

“You don’t have to go through this alone, whenever you need to talk about this, just tell me, okay?”

Wallace released his hand to sit and wipe his tears properly, “thank you so much, Steven. You are a true friend.”

Steven gave him a tender glare and grinned sweetly at him, “it’s the least I can do for how much you have helped me.”

“Had I helped you? How?”

“Yes! Because of my parents divorce and that my mom is going to move to another country all by herself, I was feeling pretty sad and lonely. But then I met you and I’ve been so happy ever since! I haven’t felt alone again!”

Those words really got through him; after having cried bitterly for whole minutes on end, expressing his sadness and anguish, Wallace smiled a beautiful smile through his tear-stained eyes, a sincere one, one that put Steven’s heart on a race and heated up his cheeks. 

“I’m so happy to have met you, too,” he uttered. “And I’m glad I can be helpful in some way.”

They kept looking at each other, smiling, without saying any other word; and that silence wasn’t awkward at all, no, neither that exchange of glares, instead, it felt very reassuring.

Then, they remained quiet for another couple of minutes, getting lost in the beautiful sight of the sky and the view of the city from above. 

At some point Wallace raised from the floor and after that he shook off his clothes to swipe the grass attached to it. Once done, he lent a hand to Steven.

“Let’s go now, please, I’m hungry.” 

Steven held it and stood on his feet. Later, he did the same thing Wallace did to shake off the grass. 

And like that, both kids grabbed their respective bags and began to head all the way downhill. 

“Next time we hang out like this, I’ll take you somewhere special. There’s a spot in the city you hadn’t seen yet.”

“Sure!” Steven agreed. “Though, I don’t know what else you can show me if you had taken me everywhere in the city.”

“Heh, you’ll see.”

After that, the two remained quiet. Steven was focused on the noise that his footsteps did against the ground, relaxing at the sound of tiny rocks and sand crunching beneath his feet. 

However, he lost his focus on these small details he loved when Wallace hummed, hesitantly.

“Steven?”

“Yes?”

“Please, don’t think I’m weird, but... a while ago, when you held my hand... hah... I liked it. I felt safe. So, can I hold your hand again?”

Would’ve been it any other kid requesting it, maybe Steven would have found it weird. Yet, it was Wallace, this mystique boy he found accidentally thanks to Aron, he couldn’t turn him down. Nor he wanted to.

After all, he had felt very special holding Wallace’s tiny, delicate hand between his.

“Sure, Wallace. You can hold my hand whenever you want.”

And they walked all the way back home like that, chatting and holding hands, only letting go of each other when they needed to go down from somewhere rather high, for their hands to find and allow the other again.


	5. The first who ever did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven defends Wallace, and soon finds out… he’s the first who ever did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: homophobic language.

They went up. Then went down. Again up. Again down. 

Sure, this one was a tricky walk, however, for the emotion sparkling on Wallace’s eyes as he pulled from Steven’s hand, guiding him to their destination, Steven could tell all the coming and going would be worth it once they arrived at that special place his friend wanted to show him so enthusiastically.

Finally, they reached the spot where a wooden bridge connected the rest of the city with a little islet. In there, a big, tall flower tree stood proudly, filling the whole area with falling petals, and even the water bodies around had little flowers floating in them.

If Steven believed that what Wallace intended to show him from the very beginning was the mesmerizing tree, he was proved wrong when the other boy kept walking to another direction.

They had to walk down from some stairs, and then, in front of them, stood a locked ancient building. Oddly enough, the aura of the place felt a lot more different from the rest of the city. 

Steven looked at Wallace, who was wearing a proudful smile, and so, his friend released his hand from his firm grasp and sighed calmly. 

“This, this is the Cave of Origin,” Wallace uttered, solemnly, respectfully.

“The Cave of Origin?”

“Yes,” he closed his eyes. “ _ A long-sleeping Pokémon will descend upon this cavern in order to awaken its true powers... _ ” Wallace prayed by memory, and later, his expression smoothened into his usual. “At least that’s what the Sootopolitan writings say.”

“A long-sleeping Pokémon?” Steven inquired now puzzled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“They’re talking about the legendary Pokémon Groudon and Kyogre. Do you know about them?”

“Yes. I’ve read about them in a book my Daddy has in his library.”

“That’s nice... most kids my age doesn’t seem to care about them even if they are an important part of our traditions as people from Sootopolis. I’m glad that you know what I’m talking about.”

“So, they’re supposed to awaken inside that cave?”

“And regain their true powers as well, though, I don’t know yet what those true powers are.”

“Does it have something to do with the infinity energy thingy?”

“Hah, so you know it?”

“I wouldn’t say that. In that book I read they talked about a cave having a dense infinity energy... maybe the author was talking about this one and that has some connection with the super ancient Pokémon’s true powers?”

“Maybe. Yet, those are suppositions since no one can enter the Cave and do research about that.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a sacred place,” he stated with that scholarly tone in his voice. “And it’s sealed. Only guardians can undo the seal and enter it. It requires some magic.”

Steven gasped at that new information. Curious, he prompted another question, “and who is the guardian?”

And finally, so enthusiastically, Wallace cracked a smile and put a hand to his waist, “that’s me!”

“Really?!” Steven covered his mouth with a hand, gasping. “I can’t believe it!”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal! You are the guardian of something so important!”

All this attention was making Wallace visibly happy, and to keep him in that mood, he kept making questions.

“How did they choose you?”

“My family are direct descendants of ancient Sootopolitans, you know, anchors, guardians, healers, lorekeepers, sages, all of that. That’s why I know the native language, its ancient and modern varieties, though, I’m better with the modern,” he explained, trying to put it down in the easiest way he could. “From generation to generation, the descendants inherit the powers necessary for guarding the cave, you get it?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Great,” the boy made a short pause to breathe and organize his ideas. “Now. Mom is the current guardian, in fact, most of the guardians had been women. For some reason it’s more likely to inherit these powers being a woman. Male guardians are rather uncommon. And not only in Sootopolitan culture, mom told me Draconid Lorekeepers and Guardians are mainly women, too.”

Amazed, Steven nodded, and immediately after that, tilted his head, “wait, who are the Draconids?”

“Hah, you can ask mom later, she is the one who knows all about them.”

“Alright...”

“Naturally, everyone thought it would be Meredith the one to inherit the powers. But she didn’t, at least not totally, her magic is very weak compared to mine.”

Steven stayed quiet for some seconds, as if trying to process all the information he got. After musing for a few seconds, he made a question, “but if your mother is the guardian, you are yet to take her place, aren’t you?”

“Theoretically it is like that. But you know, because of this thing happening to her, basically the official guardian now. And one of the youngest in history.”

“But,” now he looked concerned. “That’s so much responsibility! What if something happens? What if one of the ancient Pokémon awakens?”

Even if the stories about the legendaries sounded scary enough, Wallace laughed charmingly instead, “don’t worry, my friend,” He petted his shoulder. “I don’t think we’ll live to see them awakening, that’ll be beyond our times. Besides. Mom says it’s so complicated to artificially summon them that it’s practically impossible to awaken them. So we have nothing to worry about.”

After some seconds like that, Wallace spoke again, “now, let’s go to my place, I’m hungry already.”

“You’re always hungry.”

He chuckled, “I can’t help it. Let’s get going.”

Out of reflex and so normally now, Wallace held Steven hand and began to lead the way back to his home. From time to time he’d bring up some random conversation topic or do some comment about a flower, a plant, or the sky being beautiful; for him everything had the potential to have beauty. 

And as they walked and talked, Steven stared at his friend with admiration; he couldn’t stop asking himself how it was possible that that kid, his same age, was so smart and highly cultivated. He was awesome. Not only was Wallace a fun friend to play, or hang out together, or make jokes around, as well, he was an interesting kid that knew lots about history, mythology, language and culture. He had a lot of knowledge to share. And he was the first kid Steven had ever met that he could talk about more serious matters and not only about video games and tv shows or sports.

Sometimes he felt as if no one around him but his father really understood him. And given what Wallace just said about kids his age not minding at all about their own culture, he guessed Wallace felt the same way. 

Yet, Steven could understand why people around him didn’t want to talk with him about rocks and history, because it was pretty boring when he said all those things as he thought of himself as an ordinary guy, flat, graceless. But Wallace, he was so mystical, so special, so awesome and cool, and charming... how could anyone just overlook everything he had to share?

That time he wished he could know more about mythology, and about the super ancient Pokémon and the infinity energy, and more. He got truly inspired by his friend.

And so, now, with the leaves falling at their feet, the birds chirping in the trees, they kept walking, and Wallace was telling him about one time that his role model Master Juan gave him a water stone as a present, until someone disrupted them.

“Oh, look at this,” said a voice. A voice that made Wallace get tense. 

“It’s the queer,” another boy exclaimed rudely. 

“Why are you holding hands with that boy?” The first kid asked. “Is he a faggot like you?”

“How gross, the queer’s got a boyfriend now.”

That truly infuriated Steven.

“Why are they insulting you?”

Squeezing his eyes shut, quickly, his friend replied:

“Just ignore them.”

“Oh, you’re not going to defend yourself, you coward queer?”

“He’s useless like a little girl. He not only looks like one, but acts like one.”

“Why are you saying all of this?” Steven shouted.

“Because he is a dirty faggot who likes contest and boys, and wears makeup.”

“Steven...”

But he wasn’t just going to ignore them, no when they were this hateful towards Wallace and he looked so genuinely sad about it. So he let go of his friend’s hand and took a step further to the bullies. 

“That’s bullshit! He can wear and like whatever he wants and that doesn’t give you any right to bully him!”

“He is a dirty faggot.”

He pressed his knuckles and took another step forward, challenging, “you should respect him! He is the guardian of this city!”

His anger only increased when the first kid laughed ironically, “who cares about those stupid legends? Only stupid old people believe in them.”

“Steven! Let’s go home now!”

“No,” Steven said firmly. “These jerks think they can bully you and get away with it. But I’m going to teach them a lesson.”

The other boy snorted, “oh, are you going to defend your boyfriend?”

“How gross, the queer turned a kid into a faggot like him.”

“Say whatever you want, let’s see who’s the one to laugh at last,” and then, drew a hand to his pocket, picked Aron’s Pokéball and summoned him.

“Hah, so you wanna battle?” The other pair of kids reached out for their poke balls as well. “You’re gonna lose since it’s 2 vs 1.”

“You’re wrong. Wallace, choose Maggie.”

“But she has never battled before!”

“Don’t worry about that. Just do it.”

The look he gave to him was confident, to reassure him. So, Wallace took out Maggie’s pokeball and threw it into the air, and his beautiful Pokémon companion emerged from it.

“Hah,” the other child snorted, cynically. “Such a fitting Pokémon for a queer like you.”

“Don’t mess up with Maggie!”

“We’re teaching you a lesson, you faggots.”

The others picked their Pokémon; a Tentacool and a Wingull.

And Wallace seemed pretty puzzled when he laughed.

“Attack them. I’ll get us covered.” 

“Okay...” the hating glares the other children gave to Wallace almost made him flinch. 

But Steven got close to him, to let him know he had his back, anytime.

“Maggie! Use water gun!”

“Wingull, wing attack on Luvdisc!”

“Tentacool, use poison sting on Luvdisc!”

Wallace seemed clearly distressed and it angered Steven that they were unfairly attacking only Wallace. Yet, he wasn’t going to allow that.

“Quick, Aron, protect Maggie!”

The little pink fish spurred a water gun attack while being protected from both attacks by a transparent barrier Aron made. The water reached Wingull though it resisted the hit. 

“Oh,” the tentacool trainer said. “So you think you can get away doing something like that?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go for Aron first then,” he exclaimed. “The poor little thing won’t stand a chance against two water types.”

“That’s what you think.”

“Maggie! Use tackle on Tentacool.”

The Pokémon avoided it.

“Now, Tentacool, use poison sting on Aron.”

Steven couldn’t help but laugh, and he only did it louder when the other kid looked completely shocked when his attack didn’t inflict any damage to Aron.

“For being so arrogant you must have known steel types are immune to poison.”

He growled.

“Now let’s finish this cause I’m getting bored already.”

“Maggie, please, I don’t know what your attacks are but please, defeat them!”

The pink creature stared reassuringly at her trainer, sensing his worries. So, she bravely launched to Wingull and used draining kiss.

The Wingull trainer immediately commanded, “wing attack now it’s close!” But the flying type remained motionless. Draining kiss made it flinch.

“That was a good one, Wallace!” Steven cheered him. “Now, Aron, use rock tomb on Wingull!”

And it was it. A rock hit the water bird, hard, and it immediately fainted afterwards. 

“What?”

“That’s unfair!”

“It’s not unfair, you lack strategy, but that doesn’t surprise me coming from someone as idiotic as you.”

Wingull was withdrawn. Alone now, the guy growled again, “you’re not going to win, faggots!”

“Aron, use rock tomb again.”

“Use tackle after Aron.”

Both attacks hit the opponent. Growing desperate the kid shouted, “use acid on Luvdisc!”

“Protect!”

“Finish him with tackle!”

Maggie gave the final punch and the remaining Pokémon, Tentacool, fainted. Quickly it was withdrawn and both kids took a step back, without the petulant attitude they initially showed, but rather shocked instead. 

If Steven was about to say something to them, Wallace hurried to take the word first, and as far as Steven knew, both he and Maggie looked so empowered now. 

“Stop messing up with me! I won’t tolerate more insults!”

“And If we don’t... what?”

Steven didn’t need to get involved anymore. Wallace gave them a challenging glare and Maggie stepped ahead, looking like she was ready to attack not only the Pokémon but the boys instead if they didn’t stop bullying her beloved trainer. 

“We’ll beat you, we don’t care anymore,” and he directly pointed them with the finger. “Now, go away before I do it, idiots!”

And Maggie even started to charge a water attack, aimed at the boys.

Defeated, with bitter expressions on their faces, they got out of there as fast as they could. And both he and Wallace remained silent, panting, getting loose from the stressful moments they just endured.

And suddenly, Wallace hugged Steven, so tightly, shaking with emotion; and he, he felt his head spinning as he reciprocated the motion immediately, squeezing the sweet, sweet boy between his arms. 

And both started laughing, still processing what had happened, squeezing tighter and tighter. 

At some point Wallace looked up to find his gaze, and being so close to each other Steven noticed his eyes were humid, about to cry, but he was trying to hold back those tears.

“Thank you so much, Steven, for defending me. No one did that before.”

And that pissed him off.

“Really?”

“My other friends just stay silent when those two start messing up with me. And Meredith just told me to ignore them. Until now, I didn’t have the nerve to defend myself but now... I won’t let those jerks call me a queer anymore.”

Steven knew; Wallace needed the reassurance, to be reminded of how powerful and important he truly was.

So, he picked the most beautiful words he could say in this moment.

“You did great, Wallace, you were so elegant and brave,” and he put a hand to his hair, softly brushing the silky turquoise locks.

And Wallace looked away, blushing, hiding his face on his chest out of embarrassment. And then, he mumbled, “if you hadn’t been by my side... I wouldn’t have known what to do. You and Aron were very helpful.”

“I like strategy. But your execution was great. Graceful, even.”

And finally they pulled away to stare in their Pokémon direction.

“And you won your first battle ever.”

“You heard that, Maggie? We won! Thanks to you and Aron!”

Wallace was a guy that didn’t finish to amaze Steven: now, with a sweet expression, he humbly knelt in the ground to pet both Pokémon and compliment them with the most gentle choice of words for their victory. 

He realized it that moment: Wallace was the most accurate definition of beauty he could think of. Beautiful from the outside, with those big teal eyes that glowed happily every time they found his, with his teal hair falling into place like dominoes, and all of his cute sailor outfits, as well as beautiful from the inside, with wonders in his mind, a cultivated language for a kid, nice words to say and an infinite kindness to offer. 

Wallace was so beautiful. Steven wished more people could notice it, and defend him and protect him and treat him with the respect such endearing kid deserved.

He was so beautiful it even hurt to think about it, about all that beauty being overlooked and slept on. 

But if nobody paid attention to it, he would, he would give Wallace all the respect he deserved.

Because he didn’t want to ever stop watching that beauty smiling at him as if he was worth it, as if he was the most special on earth. Ever.


	6. Sunkissed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has a great time going to swim with Wallace, but at the end of the day reality hits, it will always hit.

That idea was born so casually one evening at Wallace’s room after they had lunch together; from the window he watched some passersby, one by one, and a bunch of them caught Steven’s attention for having all their hairs soaked.

“Ah, that,” Wallace said casually. “They surely went to swim or bath in the river.”

“Y’all can do that?”

“Of course we can,” he averted his gaze from outside the window to look directly at his face. “Our culture is very water-based so it is normal to do so.”

“I see.”

“You wanna go swimming on Friday? Because you know how to swim, right?”

If he had to be honest, he was absolutely down it. Ever since his first day in Sootopolis he noticed swimming was a pretty common activity there, and secretly he wanted to try it out. Yet, he had a reason to hesitate

“Yeah, I can swim a bit, but...”

“What?”

He sighed and then hummed, “I didn’t bring any swimming trunks with me,” finally he admitted a bit disappointed. “I didn’t think I’d need them.”

As a response his friend gave him a smile as if his problem wasn’t nothing at all, “you don’t need swimming trunks. You can just go into the water naked.”

The simple idea of doing something like that, for various motives from a cultural level to a personal tier, made him blush furiously and swing his arms in denial.

“I’m not going to be naked in public!”

The other kid sighed, “ah, I forgot you mainlanders could be like that. So shy,” he replied, dismissively. “Here we are used to bathing at the river so no one really gets much shy about nakedness. Which is weird if you think about how some people here can be so... old fashioned in thinking.”

“So...”

“I can borrow you one of my swimming trunks if that’s okay for you. And I’ll be wearing too so you don’t feel weird. Though I can’t promise we won’t find people bathing at the river.” 

“Okay. It’s fine.”

And that was pretty much why they were there. After some minutes walking –Steven had walked in weeks what he hadn’t walked in a lifetime– they finally arrived at one spot of the wide and large river that his friend told him to be rather nice and lonely so they wouldn't be disturbed. 

First, Wallace took out from his pocket Maggie’s pokéball, and summoned her to the water. The little creature cried with contentment and splashed a bit, gently, and now, she looked at them like anticipating both boys to join her and play. 

When Wallace started to take off his usual sailor clothes, Steven mimicked his actions, however, not with the same confidence or carelessness that he was displaying as Steven was staring one side to another making sure no one else was getting any near the area. 

When the two of them were finally on their swimming trunks, Wallace seemed prepared to jump straight into the water, yet Steven looked at it with uncertainty. 

“Don’t worry, Steven. River is not as brave as the sea is. If you’ve swum before in sea this should be way easier.”

Not convinced at all, he tried the water with the tip of his toe. 

“Ah! But it’s so cold!”

“You’ll get used to it.”

That didn’t seem to change his mind. 

“Well... if you are not sure of doing this we can stop here and go home.”

“No. I want to.”

His face lit up with an idea. 

“Let’s jump together then.”

He nodded in an almost robotic motion. Having his approval, Wallace held his hand between his and squeezed it to give him confidence.

They looked at each other right into the eyes, “are you ready now?”

He gave in, “yeah, let’s do it right away before I-”

Before he could say anything else, Wallace launched himself to the water, holding Steven with enough strength to pull him in and drag him inside. Both screamed as they fell and splashed into the river.

Wallace was the first one to resurface, quickly wiping his eyes, looking for Steven with his gaze, and some seconds afterward, Steven resurfaced too, almost choking.

“Are you okay?” Wallace asked, amused.

“T-The wa-water is s-so c-cold!”

“Oh, come on, Steven, if you swim you’ll get used to it.”

And Steven really tried to swim, to mimic the gracious motions from his friend, who could just swim like he was another fish in the water, but he failed to.

“You said you could swim.”

“B-But I’ve never d-done it in a river!” Why couldn’t he stop shaking? “My dad would f-freak out if he saw t-this!”

“Okay, okay,” Wallace placed his hands over his shoulders. “If you want to stop this we can go out and maybe get back home to play some cardboard games.”

“N-no! This was something I w-wanted to do!”

Wallace smiled compassionately.

“Maggie! Could you help Steven to swim?”

The little fish nodded pridefully, and immediately placed herself in front of Steven so he could cling to her. 

“I know how we can make this funnier!”

“H-How?”

“What if we rock hunt, huh? I’m sure we can find beautiful rocks underwater!”

In between the hard cold Steven was experiencing, he managed to laugh.

Was Wallace really offering to rock hunt together? The rest of his friends always called it boring and left whenever Steven tried to look for some rocks. To think that, Wallace was proposing that so both could have fun...

Even if Steven was so cold, he wasn’t going to turn Wallace down. 

“O-Okay!”

And they began to dive, grasping rocks with their hands each time they submerged, Wallace every now and then gently holding Steven when he struggled to resurface or catch his breath, as he couldn’t help but take some water in his lungs and bounce back a bit. 

And they kept doing like that, keeping rocks in their hands and placing them apart in the shoreline, until-

“Oh, Wallace!”

“Yes, my friend?”

“Look! I think I found a good one here!”

Watching over him, Wallace allowed him to get to the shoreline next, and once there, looked very attentive at the exemplar he displayed. 

“It’s granite.”

“Is it? Tell me all about it.”

Was it normal that he found Wallace so irresistibly cute when he was this attentive?

Feeling his chest wide with happiness, Steven began to tell Wallace all the details about this one discovery.

And once he was done...

“I also found a rock.”

“You did?”

Until this moment, Steven realized Wallace had been holding something between his hands.

“I’m not as smart as you so I have no idea which sort of rock this one is... but...” he chuckled. “I saw it while we were diving... I thought the color was cute... it’s blue, almost the same shade as your hair is...”

He flashed a big smile right afterward, “oh, let me have a look!”

Gently, Wallace lent it, and from time to time, Steven would lift his gaze from the exemplar in question to stare back at Wallace, who was there, his wet hair getting on his face, a bit blushed by the sun, expecting a good reaction from him, expecting he’d love this rock he had found himself and offered to him.

It wasn’t really a rare rock, no, it was the typical sediment to be expected to find in a river; yet, Wallace was anticipating the praise, Steven could tell, and for that, he gasped.

“Oh! Seems like it’s an apatite!”

“Is it any good?”

He nodded enthusiastically, “it is! We usually find it in igneous formations, you know, as in volcanic activity, so it’s only natural we find them in Sootopolis’ landscapes!”

“Sounds nice!” And as expected, Wallace’s face lit up pridefully. “You can keep it if you like.”

It was a simple rock, nothing nearly as fancy as all the beautiful gemstones his father owned, yet, this one, felt special like an emerald.

“This would be the second one you give to me.”

“Well, you have a big collection to build yet.”

And this wish was noble and true, Steven wanted to give back something to Wallace, anything it would be, and so, he looked away for a while trying to think of anything, until an idea occurred to him.

“Hey, the other day my Daddy sent me some money,” he started. “Do you want me to buy you an ice cream?”

As humbly as expected, he tilted his head, “but that’s your money that your daddy gave you, I don’t know if I could accept you spent it on me...”

“Don’t worry! It’s fine, he will send me more next week.”

“You sure?”

“Yes! So, why don’t we go grab some ice cream now?”

Smiling broadly, Wallace nodded, “yes! It’s a good moment to go for ice cream, the day is so hot!”

“Okay, you lead the way, then!”

And as casually, both went out of the river, dried themselves with towels as much as they could, and saved everything back in their bags to head now to the ice cream shop; Wallace stayed in his swimming trunks, while Steven decided to put on a shirt on too since he wasn’t anything like his friend and couldn’t get adjusted to the idea of wandering around a city only in swimming trunks.

And even though Steven thought his daddy would be very surprised if he saw him now.

* * *

  
From beside him, Wallace took a sip from his mug and sighed pleased.

“Ah, this is so good, miss!”

His mom only laughed, endeared, “just tell me Edith, Wallace, I’m alright with it.”

“Didn’t I promise my mom’s hot chocolate was the best?”

“It really is! I never tried one better.”

“Thank you, dear, you are so sweet.”

And Wallace once more sipped from his mug, his sunbathed cheeks getting even rosier by the warm sensation tickling them, and Steven couldn’t stop looking at his direction, in awe.

“Hey, may I ask you something?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Is it true that you’ll be moving to Kalos soon?”

His mom nodded, “yes. Why for?”

“I was just thinking that...” and he sighed, theatrically. “If you move to Lumiose maybe you’ll be meeting Fantina!”

At that, Edith laughed, “oh, so are you a fan of hers?”

“Just a fan? I’m her biggest fan!”

Steven shook his head, “you remember I told you Wallace is into contests, don’t you, mom?”

“Of course I remember.”

And this was Wallace’s turn to get excited over a topic and start to ramble about it, “Fantina is just so gorgeous! She wears all these amazing dresses, she looks like a princess! And her Pokémon are amazingly strong and elegant! She has a way with contests that is just... ah! I can’t describe it!”

“Well, she’s really beautiful herself. I’ve heard that she’s also such a nice person.”

“She is! She’s always talking to her fans, once she went to visit a sick fan at the hospital, another time she donated to an orphanage, and she also sent a budget to a lady that was kicked out of home for getting a girlfriend...”

If Steven got nervous his mom was about to disagree with that last part, she just nodded.

“Fantina sounds like an amazing woman.”

“I really want to be like her when I grow up.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be a kind coordinator when you get older,” Edith said, with full honesty. “But, unfortunately for me, I’m not leaving to Lumiose, I’ll be moving to Snowbelle so I won’t probably come across her.”

Wallace didn’t let his spirits down, “oh, but she might be on tour sometime! She travels a lot, after all.”

“Well, yeah! If I ever meet her I’ll tell her she has a huge fan in Sootopolis wanting to meet her.”

“Oh, you’d do that for me? For real?”

“Of course!”

But, even if this chat was lighthearted, exciting, nice and warm, Steven couldn’t stop getting reminded that... this wasn’t going to be forever. 

His mom would move to Kalos. He’d have to go back to Rustboro with his Daddy, and the friendship with Wallace wasn’t going to last much more.

Yet, he tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind to get lost in the beautiful view of Wallace, with his lovely cheeks all sun-kissed, silently feeling a bit jealous of the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand, this is everything for this week! Hope y’all loved reading this update as much as I loved working on it. It’s so very lovely for me to write and edit all of this, as Steven and Wallace as kids make me so awfully weak, and I hope y’all could see that reflected in every word and scene. 
> 
> This being said, thank you for reading! See y’all next week with another update! Stay safe!!


	7. Treasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven finally gets the chance to meet Juan, Wallace’s role model, and after stoping by, the man offers them an important advice.

That day Steven asked Wallace if they could go again to the surroundings of the Cave of Origin since he thought that there they would be able to find nice stones. 

Wallace stole one of Meredith’s bags so they could save their findings in there, and everytime Steven picked up something interesting he would listen excitedly to the story that came right afterward. 

Once they finished their small rock hunt session, they intended to head back midtown, but before that could happen, suddenly, Wallace stopped and gasped, and Steven peeped at him:

“What’s the matter?”

Nothing wrong this time around, luckily, as Wallace immediately smiled, whispering sublimely, “look!”

“What?”

“It’s him!” And his precious teal eyes were starried, even. “The awesome Master Juan!”

Steven tried to focus his gaze on whatever person Wallace was talking about, and not long afterward he found him; a man dressed up in fancy blue, purple and black clothing, standing under a tree along a very fancy Kingdra, feeding it as he gently spoke to it.

“Is he the gym leader?”

“Yes, yes!” But Wallace was fascinated already. “Just, look! He’s so handsome, strong and kind... I really do want to be like him one day.”

And Wallace gasped again, yes, because this time around that Juan man realized he wasn’t alone, rose his gaze and waved gently at Wallace.

“Hello there!”

“He’s talking to you, Wallace!”

He stuttered for a bit, “h-hello, sir!”

Over again, Steven grabbed his hand, “come on, let’s talk to him.”

And he dragged this very shy Wallace to where Juan stood waiting for them to approach him, and the man really did have some mysterious way about him that made Steven feel nearly as enchanted as Wallace was. 

“Hello!”

“Good afternoon, sir!”

He hummed, “I see you have some company today, huh?”

Pridefully, Wallace nodded, and let go of his hand only to wrap an arm around his shoulders, “this is my friend, Steven!”

“Nice to meet you, sir, I’m Steven Stone.”

Juan rose a brow while grinning, “ah, Steven Stone, you say?”

Both nodded.

“What an amazing friend you have here, Wallace.”

“Thank you, Master Juan!”

“Wallace is a big fan of yours, sir!”

At this, his friend began to blush and went silent in embarrassment.

“Oh, is him?”

“Yes! He always talks about how awesome and powerful you are!”

“Well, well, this is such a big compliment if it comes from our local guardian.”

Wallace was getting even redder, to unsuspecting extents, and Steven didn’t know Juan’s approval was that important for his friends until now.

“Yeah! He wants to be a strong water specialist and coordinator like you! He’s even gotten a Pokémon now!”

This surely took the other man by surprise, “oh, does he?”

“Yes! He even won his first battle already!”

“Is that true?”

Wallace nodded, excitedly, happy that Juan was acknowledging him.

“Would you two mind having a battle, then? So I can see his new Pokémon in action?”

Was a gym leader truly asking him to battle for him? Steven was feeling very lucky that day, he hadn’t even considered seriously starting a trainer career and now he had the eighth gym leader wanting to test his skills.

However, his friend looked thrilled at this idea.

“Oh! But... there’s no way I can win against Steven and Aron...”

Juan stared indulgently at him, “this is a friendly match, I just want to see your new Pokémon.”

“This is your chance to show off Maggie to Master Juan! Come on, Wallace, it will be fun.”

For a moment he seemed to seriously wonder about this, until apparently he could snap himself from this fearful state of mind, and shaking his head, he gave an approving expression, “alright.”

The man clasped his hands together and tilted his head, “okay, then. Let us step back so we can witness this awesome battle.”

With full confidence, feeling like showing off a bit, and imagining the proud expression on his daddy’s face if he saw him battling for a gym leader, Steven took a place right opposite to where Wallace stood, and took Aron from his pokeball.

“Go, Aron!”

His little Pokémon cried happily at the sight of all of them.

And Wallace just sighed, trying to collect his nerve, standing straight at one moment.

“Maggie! Let’s go!”

He summoned Maggie, who tried to do a graceful move to impress.

“You go first, Wallace!”

“Okay,” he sighed once more, putting a hand to his chest. “Maggie, use water gun!”

She sported a good amount of water and it hit Aron, who stepped back for a while. And despite this, Wallace didn’t lose his focus.

“Aron, use tackle!”

And Wallace waited for the moment it hit Maggie to command smartly, “use water gun again!”

It hit him again, and Wallace seemed to get more confident, but Steven wasn’t about to let this be easy for him just because he was his friend.

“Use endure!”

“Draining kiss from behind!”

“Aron, avoid it and keep enduring!”

But Wallace seemed clearly distressed when Aron couldn’t get to avoid it, yes, but even if it landed masterly, his attack did not have the same effect the other’s had had before.

“Endure once more!”

“Tackle him with all you’ve got!”

“You too, Aron! Use tackle!”

And Maggie seemed harmed by it.

“Now is your chance! Use metal claw!”

Merciless, Aron used metal claw, badly hurting Maggie, until she wasn’t able to keep fighting anymore and fainted in the ground.

“Ah, Maggie!”

He rushed to her side, to place his gentle hands on her to check up she was fine.

“Maggie, are you alright? Maggie? Are you hurt?”

She cried weakly.

“It’s alright,” and by the way he was placing his hands in her, she seemed to start feeling better. “Thank you so much for battling for me, even if it was sudden, you did an amazing work.”

And then Juan approached him, clapping, and this time around Wallace was avoiding his gaze, not out of embarrassment this time, instead, sort of ashamed.

And Steven began to feel guilty for winning, because he defeated Wallace in front of the man he admired so much and wanted to leave a good impression in, and now he was blinking quickly, his gorgeous face dyeing in shades of sorry pink.

“That was an amazing battle!”

“B-But... I lost...”

Juan shook his head patiently, giving Wallace a kind glare, “Steven is quite skilled, and he has learned some strategy already, I can tell.”

Reading those books at his Daddy’s library really had some use, after all.

“You need more strategy, yes, discover more about what kind of attacks Maggie is stronger at, but all that aside, you had an awesome execution.”

“Y-You think so?”

“Yes! You were focused all the time, even if you were nervous you didn’t let Maggie get nervous with you, and you acted very elegantly all the time.”

This seemed to cheer him up.

“I tried my best.”

“You tried to startle Aron, I see you’ve learned one thing or two from top coordinators.”

And he even laughed, “I’ve seen Fantina doing it many times!”

“Oh, Fantina better watch out, one day it’ll be you fighting her and using her own tricks on her, she’ll be so startled.”

“Oh, it would be a dream come true to fight her.”

“You’re gonna defeat her for sure!”

And Juan laughed, “well now, you two, it isn’t a friendly battle if you don’t give each other a hand after finishing it. It’s manners to remind each other you are still friends and respect each other despite the results.”

Indeed they got close to shake hands, but this wasn’t enough for neither; Steven ended up hugging Wallace, and he reciprocated shyly, resting his head on his shoulder for a little while. 

And when they pulled away, Juan was smiling.

“You are such good friends. Fighting is great but, always remember to treasure good friendship like yours over any results.”

Steven was sure he would always treasure Wallace in his heart, as he was amazing, funny, beautiful and intelligent. He would always love his friend Wallace this much.


	8. Pinky promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Promises really seem to be something else, but for Wallace, Steven is willing to make many of them.

That day Steven had all the intention to spend it watching movies with his mom, yet, when he was about to go out of his room to prepare some popcorn, a friend of his mom payed a visit all uninvited, and his mom received her happily, and when Steven was about to go remind his mom about their movies evening, he heard how they were talking about his Daddy from the kitchen, not in a very positive way.

“He doesn’t give a shit about anything but himself.”

“I don’t know how you could put up with so much shit, Edith.”

“Me neither, honestly. He was a jackass, money can’t erase that, it seems.”

“And to think we all believed he was a man with his life all put together for being so wealthy…”

“If he works like an addict it’s natural he gives off that impression… but, even though- he still has some dirty secrets of his own.”

“Don’t you think it is a bad idea to leave Stevie with him?”

“I surely hope Stevie never turns into such an inattentive ass, but… I won’t take Steven to try luck with me in Kalos, he’s used to a luxurious life, I won’t take that away from him.”

“But if his dad is such an idiot…”

He really, really hated to listen to them talking about his Daddy in such way, yeah, sometimes he was forgetful and frustrating, but he was his Daddy after all, and his Daddy also took him to explore caves together, bought him books about rocks, had helped him to catch his first Pokemon and all. His Daddy wasn’t perfect, but he was a very good dad nonetheless. 

And before this could make him sadder than he already was, because hearing his Mommy talk this bad about his Daddy hurt him so much, he got out of his room and told her that he would take Aron for a walk.

And the only thing Steven could think of now that he got outside, was paying a visit to Wallace to see if he was free to hang out for the evening; he couldn’t be sure if he would accept since they didn’t settle anything for today, but in any case, if Wallace turned him down, well, maybe when he was back at home his mom wouldn’t be complaining about his Daddy anymore.

So, he walked all the way up to Wallace’s house, until he was reaching his doorstep, and he indeed found him outside, yes, but placing his hands at both of his cheeks, frowning annoyed, looking angry for sure.

“Hey, Wallace.”

For once he didn’t seem too happy to see him.

“Hello, Steven.”

And this concerned him; was Wallace mad at him for some reason?

“Hey...” he tried from a soft approach in case Wallace was truly this angry. “Do you wanna hang out?”

“I don’t know...”

And he pouted, angrily.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah...”

As he wasn’t about to talk and give away whatever was happening to him, but it didn’t feel right to leave him just like that, and Steven didn’t really want to return to his mom talking over and over again about how his Daddy forgot about their anniversary over a business meeting, he decided to sit beside Wallace and make him company, silently. They didn’t need to be talking all the time, being beside him was enough. 

After a long while like this, Wallace panted very heavily, and said:

“Let’s go to the hill.”

This wasn’t even a question, no; he was ordering Steven to follow him, and as he was worried about his friend, he decided to stick to him and chase after him on his way to the high hill of the city.

When they were there, without saying much more, Wallace laid over the grass, breathing hard, blinking fast, trying to calm himself down, it seemed. 

Quietly, showing silent understanding, Steven laid by his side, and waited patiently for any elaboration. 

“Meredith lied to me.”

“Did she?”

Nodding very seriously, Wallace continued, “she promised she’d be playing monopoly with me today, but then her boyfriend came over and she went on a date with him instead.”

Steven knew how lonely Wallace could get to feel, so he tried to offer some kind words.

“You can play with her any other day, I’m sure she’s gonna make it up to you.”

“I don’t want to play other day! It had to be today!”

And once more, there he was, breathing hard, squeezing his fist trying to remain collected. 

“I can play with you-”

“No. I wanted to play with Meredith.”

Steven decided to go silent then, to let Wallace get it off his chest if this was what he needed more than being offered a solution.

“They are idiots, thinking they can push me away like that...”

His eyelids fluttered even faster, and his voice almost cut off in a sob. Almost.

“Meredith’s boyfriend is a dickhead.”

Had Wallace just sworn?

That must be cursing, one Steven hadn’t heard of before.

“Dickhead?”

“Yes, Steven, dickhead. As in when a person is so stupid they are a dickhead.”

Repeating that word out loud felt wrong.

“Are you jealous?”

He shook his head, “I’m not jealous of them, Meredith can date whatever bitch she wants to,” it sounded like outright jealousy for Steven for the way he was cursing so much. “It’s just that, I hate it when people don’t stick to their words.”

After that statement both went quiet for a long, long while, and Steven decided to just stare at the clouds, find patterns in them, waiting for the storms in his friend’s heart to clear.

And soon enough, he felt Wallace approaching him and suddenly, too suddenly, placing a careful kiss to his forehead the way he would if he was Maggie.

“Sorry.”

Before this ticklish sensation numbed him speechless, Steven asked:

“What for?”

“For being in such fouls mood around you, for being rude to you a couple minutes ago. I’m not angry at you and I shouldn’t have acted as if I was.”

Steven gave him a gentle, understanding smile, “it’s okay... I wasn’t in the best mood either.”

“Oh?”

“I was going to watch movies with my mom, but a friend of her visited, and they were talking about my daddy from the kitchen.”

“Bad things?”

“Yeah… they were insulting him and all.”

“Oh... that’s worse than Meredith not wanting to play with me. I’m super sorry now.”

“It’s okay.”

And again, Wallace laid in the grass, sighing deeply, “adults are so weird, sometimes I don’t understand them.”

“Me neither...”

“They go on dates, swear they will love each other forever, push other’s aside, then suddenly fight… and come back to the ones they pushed aside crying over their stupid breakups.”

Wallace laid back in the grass, and Steven rolled on his side to face him, still laying, and to try to make this better for Wallace, because his feelings were also valid and Steven wanted him to know that, for him to not feel alone:

“When we grow up, and we are both adults, I’ll take you on a date.”

For once, Wallace laughed wholeheartedly.

“For real?”

“Yeah! It will be a lot of fun!”

“But you won’t leave me stranding, right?”

Shaking his head excitedly, Steven replied, “no! I’ll take you to eat some delicious burgers in my favorite place back at Rustboro! Then we can go for ice cream, candies, spicy chips... whatever you want. It’ll all be on me.”

And Wallace flashed a sweet smile at him, blushing slightly, his eyelids fluttering close, until he whispered too fervently.

“You promise it?”

Promises seemed to be really something else, but Steven didn’t mind promising this to Wallace, because he really wanted to do this for him, to be the reason for his smiles, to give him all that he deserved.

“I promise!”

“With your pinky?”

“With my pinky.”

And they twined their fingers as they stared at each other right into the eyes, smiling happily, all dread and bitter feelings washing away, their faces close, so very close to each other’s.

Getting slightly feverish over having Wallace’s face so close to his, being able to even feel his more steady breathe now, Steven felt like this was the perfect moment to say something that could express the warm, fuzzy and tingling feelings Wallace gave to him in his heart, but Steven couldn’t find the words to say this, not when all he could think of was on getting closer, not when his friend seemed to be in a rush to add something more.

“Do you think your mom would let you spend the night at mines tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

“I want to make a sleepover. We can play cardboard games, watch movies...”

“My daddy bought me some movies before I came here.”

“Oh! I’ve got some movies too. Can we watch the little mermaid? It’s my favorite.”

“Of course! I’ll beg my mom for permission to go to your sleepover.”

“Please! I can beg her too if she says no!”

“My daddy sent me some money the other day, we could buy lots of popcorn and spicy chips and noodles!”

“Yes!”

Steven was so lucky, he knew: maybe it was good that Meredith and Edith had changed their plans today, because thanks to that, they settled plans for an awesome sleepover the next day, and an awesome date in the future, a date he would always be looking forward to.


	9. Truly, madly, deeply

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Wallace make a sleepover, and after talking about their secrets, Steven finally gets to put into words all he’s been feeling lately.

Fortunately, his mom said yes to the sleepover, and now he was at Wallace’s having dinner with Faith, Meredith and Wallace as they all tried to teach him a couple of Sootopolitan words.

Then, in the table they started to play cardboard games, from Uno, to monopoly, to other odd, traditional Sootopolitan card games, having ice cream Steven bought and cookies Faith baked for them.

Later, they went to the living room to watch movies with all the popcorn and chips Steven bought; first, they watched The Little Mermaid and Steven stared fascinated at how Wallace new every single song of the film, how he laughed and clapped excited even if this must be the thousand time he watched this film.

After that, they watched Ratatta Little, the second movie in which Ratatta makes friends with a pidgey, that movie that Steven adored quite a lot and made him wish with all his heart he could be a bird and fly on his own, faraway from this region.

After that, they went to Wallace’s room, and they had the idea to make a little camping inside with a tent Wallace had saved in his closet, they got blankets and pillows inside, read books, and played with some dolls.

And Wallace seemed to have an idea too, saying that it wasn’t a sleepover without some good phone jokes, so, very carefully he dragged from outside the telephone, all wire included, and started to call random numbers to make some jokes.

One of them was made to Meredith’s boyfriend, too; for this, Wallace made Steven pick up the phone, and had to hang up when the laughter was too much for him to notice this was his girlfriend’s little brother pranking him.

And as it became late, they started talking about more serious matters while laying inside the tent, trying to sleep now.

And whenever they got silent, Steven’s thoughts would wonder all about Wallace, remembering everything he knew so far, everything he had been hinted at, and so, a genuine question surfaced in his head.

“Hey, Wallace.”

“Yes?”

“Might I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

He hesitated a bit before asking this, but he was curious, so, carefully, with secrecy, he asked:

“Do you like boys?”

He hummed for a second.

“Promise you won’t laugh at me if I tell you the truth?”

“Of course I won’t laugh.”

And with all honesty, with a broad smile on his face, he nodded, “yeah.”

“So... you aren’t into girls?”

He nodded once more, “of course I like them too. Girls are so cute and nice, I love being around them.”

This was a bit confusing for Steven to get, “you like both?”

And his friend seemed to notice the puzzled expression that he decided to elaborate in this, with a low voice however, just in case somebody else was listening.

“There’s this girl at my school, Allijah. She has brown skin, curly hair, and wears cute dresses. I like her a lot, I think she’s very, very pretty.”

“Okay...”

“The baker has a son that’s called Terrence. He has blond hair, green eyes, wears glasses and is good at basketball. I like him a lot, I think he’s very cute too.”

“I see... so, you have a crush on them?”

“I get all flustered around them, yeah. But I have a crush on someone else.”

This was even more confusing.

“Oh, you do?”

“Yes.”

“And who is it? Do I know them?”

For once, Wallace shook his head, “I’m not gonna tell you.”

“Oh? Why not?”

He chuckled, “I have some secrets of myself, Steven. I can’t be an open book all the time.”

“Oh, if you don’t tell me who your crush is I won’t tell you my secret either.”

“So, you have a secret?”

“Yes. But I’m not telling you now.”

“Oh? And if I tell you a secret in exchange?”

“Only if you tell me who your crush is.”

“No! I have better secrets than that, I swear!”

And they started telling secrets to each other, between the lines that once Steven saw his Daddy and Mommy kissing in bed, that once Wallace watched Meredith doing the same with one of her boyfriends, how Wallace once, behind his mom’s back, started to read that adult novel she hid in her drawer under all her clothes, or how Steven played this game of guns and crime his dad had forbid him to...

They exchanged many secrets, except for the obvious one.

And Steven kept talking about his friend Richard’s gun games, until-

“And you know what, Wallace?”

No reply.

“Wallace? Are you awake?”

No reply.

So, in the dark, he turned to face him, and found his friend already fast asleep, his eyelids closed so delicately, breathing very slowly, and the warm, fuzzy sensation came back to Steven’s chest, and as his heart started to skip so fast, he bent over ever so slightly to give Wallace a little peck on his forehead, a whisper spilling out of his lips, softly.

“I love you.”

Those were the words he had been meaning to speak the whole time. He loved Wallace for being such a good friend, because he had a lot of fun by his side, because he was gorgeous, because he listened. 

And blushing, Steven wrapped an arm around Wallace’s tiny frame, just in case his friend would wake up in the middle of the night feeling alone and scared, and as he squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in the sweet scent of Wallace’s hair, he wished with all his forces that time could freeze in this moment, to stop, to always be friends with Wallace, to always be here in Sootopolis to hold him like this, love him like this, just like this. Always like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand, this is all for this week! This Friday’s update was for sure shorten than the previous ones, but I hope it was a sweet, enjoyable read nonetheless :) seems like little Steven is finding out what his feelings are all about!!
> 
> As a note, I have to add: as next weekend will be running the Originshipping week 2021 and I’ll be participating in it, I won’t update this fic as I’m pretty much planning to submit an entry for each of the 7 days and I don’t want to overwhelm y’all with so much readings and so end up averting the attention from this one work since next update is gonna be- well, eventful :) so, expect the following 3 chapters until Friday February 5th!! It’s gonna be a long wait but I can assure y’all it will be worth it!! 
> 
> This all being said, thank you a lot for reading!! Please be safe and look forward to February 5ths update <333


	10. Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven is finally forced to face the truth: all good things have to come to an end.

That morning Steven woke up excited, happy, because later in the day, Wallace and him would go to collect some rocks together, then go buy milkshakes at a place that had many arcade games brought directly from Mauville city.

He couldn’t wait to see Wallace, to get lost in the view of his beautiful face, smell in the sweet scent of his hair, to listen to his voice and laughter, to grab his hand in this way that made his stomach flutter and his heart beat fast, so fast.

Getting the feeling that the sooner he got from bed and had breakfast, the sooner it would become time to see Wallace, Steven rushed to the table, where his mom had already breakfast prepared, yes, as well as something to say.

“Hey, Stevie.”

“Yes, mum?”

“Today your Daddy called me up to tell me something arrived in the mail.”

“What was it? My video games?”

She chuckled, “no, no. From Kalos.”

Ah, he felt his stomach dropping now.

“What?”

“It’s my visa, and my airplane ticket.”

Oh, no, this couldn’t be. 

Deep down Steven knew this moment would arrive eventually, and at the beginning of this vacation he had wished it came quickly so he could be back home to his dad and his rocks as soon as possible and he first hand disliked Sootopolis, but now...

“We are leaving back to Rustboro this Friday.”

He sighed, distressed, “what?”

“Yes, your Daddy will be waiting for us that day.”

“B-But!” Once again he took a deep breathe, shaking his head. “I don’t want to leave!”

“We have to go, Stevie. This was temporary, you knew it.”

“B-But... W-Wallace...”

Edith cooed, “oh, Stevie, I’m sure Wallace will understand.”

“But I don’t want to stop seeing him! He’s my best friend!”

“See,” she put a hand to his hair. “It’s necessary for us to go, your daddy misses you, you have to keep going to school, and I have to go. Wallace also has his matters tying him up to this place, his mom, sister and friends are all here. I could let you invite him over one of these days to play, give you all the money y’all want to spend in candies and all... but after that, we’ll have to go.”

Those news left Steven silent and haunted; he truly wasn’t ready to go back to Rustboro to live again a life that Wallace wasn’t part of.

Frustrated, very frustrated, Steven started to eat just because his mom demanded him to, he did his chores, he showered and got ready for his gathering with Wallace.

When he saw his friend, he couldn’t help but smile because being near Wallace was what made him happy, but deep down the dread and frustration kept growing on him more and more every time Wallace held his hand and laughed.

It felt wrong to hide this from him. Even if he had known all along about the divorce, the fact his mom was moving to another region, the temporary living in Sootopolis, which meant he would leave eventually, Wallace had no clue this was going to happen soon, so very soon.

So, Steven was standing there with his bag of rocks half empty; he couldn’t do more than watch Wallace collecting many of his own, filling his own bag with which would be mostly peeves, his beautiful teal hair falling on his face so gracefully, his sailor clothes getting grass stained and him not caring at all about that, the spark of his teal eyes, so lovely, so cute.

For the first time in his life Steven felt this sickly feeling of wanting to forever be beside a person, and it hit him in full force, puzzling him since he didn’t know how to call this feeling that was overflowing him and taking over each of his veins, each of his heartbeats.

But he knew what was the right thing to do before Wallace kept laughing and talking as if nothing was happening.

“Hey.”

Wallace stared at him, smiling, “what’s up?”

“I have something to tell you…” Steven prompted, coyly, having a hard time keeping eye contact.

And… Wallace’s smile grew broader at the sight of him playing with his fingers nervously, “oh? How weird. I was also planning on telling you something today.”

Steven shook his head, implying his rush, “this… is important.”

“How important?”

“You have to know it now.”

Why was Wallace even blushing while smiling, giving him this anticipating look? 

“I...”

“Yes?”

“My mom... told me today that... we are going back to Rustboro this Friday.”

And Steven had to see the perfectly toothy smile, the rosy color of his cheeks, the spark of his eyes, all dissipate in front of him, leaving only a very pale expression.

Wallace titled his head, “what?”

Thinking his friend was asking because he didn’t hear well, Steven repeated it, “I’ll go back to Rustboro this Friday...”

And if his mom had told him that Wallace would understand, he saw how his lips started to twitch up and down so very quickly, his eyes watering up.

“So you’re going to push me aside, just like that,” and he stood very straight and crossed his arms firmly.

“N-no-”

“You are going to dump me!”

“No, Wallace-”

“Yes! You will! You’re going to abandon me after all we’ve been through!”

“No, listen-”

“You are going to leave me just like everyone does. You are going to leave me just like my dad did, just like Meredith does, just like my mom is going to! You are going to leave me alone just _now_!”

This made his heart feel like coming undone, his throat getting dry; Wallace was going to feel alone because of him, he was going to leave his side in his worst of moments, just before he lost his mom forever.

“I should have known! Gosh… I should’ve known!”

Steven didn’t want him to feel like that, no, he wanted his friend to know that he loved him and that he would find a way to stay in touch regardless of the distance, that even from across the sea he would still be there to listen to him.

So, he tried to wrap his arms around his friend, to calm him down, to tell him how much he loved him and how he wouldn’t ever dump him because he wanted to be with him forever, but Wallace just pushed him away with all of his forces as he started to cry.

“Don’t touch me, liar!”

This was bringing tears to his eyes, “don’t get angry at me, please, please, you are my best friend-”

“One doesn’t abandon their best friend!”

“I won’t abandon you, I-”

“You will! You will be back to your mansion with people dedicated to taking care of you, you’ll keep attending your school for rich kids, your dad will keep spoiling you and you’ll forget about a dirty Sootopolitan like me! You’ll replace me with your rich friends who can afford all the fancy things you like!”

Steven didn’t understand why Wallace was insulting himself in this way, why he considered he was replaceable, why he was so angry at both themselves.

“It won’t be like that!”

“It will! Everyone forgets about me, and now you’ll also forget about me!”

“I won’t forget about you! I care about you, I-”

‘ _I love you!_ ’

He shook his head with indignation, squeezing his lips to repress the aggressive sobs coming from him, “if you cared you would stay with me!”

Steven really didn't want to go, he wanted to stay here, but the sad reality was that neither of them were adults, or even old enough to start a Pokémon adventure together, they still depended on adults and they had to stick to them, there was nothing they could do about this.

“I c-can’t- s-stay… my Daddy, h-he’s waiting f-for me, I c-can’t-”

“Because you are a rich brat!”

Those words were so hurtful, making Steven shake of sadness right on his spot, shocked at this sudden outburst and verbal vomit.

“And you know what?” Wallace asked daringly as he wiped his tears, “have these stupid rocks, I don’t want them anymore!”

And he threw the bag in his direction, making it arrive to his feet.

“Please, Wallace, please-”

“A-A-And-” his shaky lips wouldn’t allow him to formulate strong, fluid sentences anymore. “I-If you are g-going to leave just d-do it at once! I-I don’t want to s-see you ever again in my l-life! E-Ev-ver!”

“No, no, Wallace, please-”

“Fuck you!”

After cursing at the top of his lungs, Wallace ran to the opposite side.

And Steven tried to chace after him, “Wallace!”

But at this point he was just a sobbing mess, running downhill, without seeming to stop.

“Wallace!”

And Steven kept running after him, but in one of the stairs he tripped, his knee hitting the jagged ground, making him whimper at the physical pain, his knee bleeding.

And Wallace didn’t stop, no, he kept running until he was no longer within range.

And this was the moment when Steven started to sob; he didn’t want this to happen, he didn’t want to hurt Wallace, to make him sad and angry, to make him feel as if he didn’t care about him anymore, as if he didn’t want to be around him, to imply he thought he was dirty and unworthy, disposable and replaceable.

As well, all the insults Wallace threw at him, how he used such strong words on him... it hurt, it made him feel almost offended, ridiculous, silly.

And the fact Wallace said he didn’t want to see him ever again...

If Steven was struggling before to call these feelings something, now he knew what this one awful sensation of affliction drumming on his humiliated chest was:

Heartbreak.


	11. Unlovable boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now they’ve fallen apart so abruptly, Wallace is convinced that he’s worth nothing, that he’s simply… unlovable.

It was Wednesday, the day outside was precious, sunny, the spring shining in all of its beauty, the sky so blue, without any clouds in sight.

And even though Steven was in his bed, still in pajamas, holding Rocky, his rock pet, in his hand after a long while of having it saved between his belongings.

“So, Mr. Rocky, where did the thieves go?”

“Oh, yeah, the thieves…”

This game was only funny when he was playing with his cousin Roxanne.

He would try another game.

“So, mr. Hardy, tell me why are you here for?”

He grabbed the other rock, and faked a voice, “my wife asked me for divorce and she wants to take the kids with her.”

“What else?”

“My best friend stole my dog and kissed my wife.”

“Oh... what?”

“Yes... but... I miss my best friend more than I miss my wife, she can go away if she wants, but I really don’t want to lose my best friend, I want to hug him and ki-”

When the door was opened, Steven gasped, hiding Mr. Hardy under the blanket to pretend he hadn’t been talking to himself through some rocks.

And now... the dread came back to him.

“Hey, Stevie.”

“Hey...”

“Oh! Is that Rocky? It’s been a long while since I last saw him!”

A bit ashamed, Steven nodded, “yes.”

And then she tilted her head, “why are you still in pajamas, huh?”

He made up an excuse, “it’s cold.”

She chuckled, not following his line of logic, “well, yes, the stone this house is made of makes it feel a bit chilly, but it’s a beautiful day outside! Won't you go out today?”

“No.”

He wished his mom could leave him alone to keep playing therapist with Rocky and Mr. Hardy, but she seemed to have more questions.

“Won’t you spend the day with Wallace?”

He shook his head, “no.”

“And tomorrow? Did he say yes to inviting him over to spend your last evening here together?”

He got quiet. He didn’t really want to talk about this.

“Stevie?”

At last, he sighed, “he got angry at me, okay? We aren’t friends anymore.”

A heavy silence lingered over them, and Edith seemed slightly guilty, only slightly.

“Why?”

As if he knew.

“He’s angry because I’m going to leave him like everyone else does.”

And he held on tighter to Rocky, wishing this talk to be over as soon as possible.

“Oh...” and Edith took a seat beside him.

He shouldn’t be feeling this way, not when his mom was about to leave for a long, long time, he should be happy that at least he was getting to spend time with her and only her, after all, this had been the purpose of this vacation, to share valuable time before his mom went faraway, overseas.

“I might be wrong, but... I get the vibe that Wallace is a rather lonely kid, right?”

Softly, he nodded, “yes. Even if he has his friends and mom and sister he feels alone. People sleep on him a lot.”

She started stroking his back in soothing circles, “maybe he wasn’t angry at you, but at the situation.”

“He told me… ugly things...”

“And, do you feel offended by them, in all honesty?”

That was the whole point of this, the confusing matter, “no. I should be angry because he insulted me, but I’m not.”

“And why aren't you?”

“That’s Wallace’s way to fake he isn’t sad. He fakes anger and throws insults instead of admiting something’s hurting him, he’s very prideful.”

“I see...” and she put a hand to his back. “And how do you feel about all of this?”

Steven couldn’t help it, a small tear streamed down his face, and he was quick to wipe it; fortunately enough his mom didn’t intervene in that one part, she just quietly awaited for his reply.

“I didn’t mean to hurt him... I’m sad that he feels hurt because of me, that he feels like I’m abandoning him after all we’ve been through.”

Now she started patting his back, softly, “and do you think there’s something you can do about this?”

He shook his head, “he said he didn’t want to see me again. That if I was gonna leave... that I just did it at once.”

This time, Edith cooed very lowly, “don’t take those words by heart, Stevie. As you’ve said, Wallace feels alone, he must have felt very alone before he met you and he’s going to have a hard time seeing you go and it’s easier for him to fake all this anger than accept that he’s going to miss you.”

“Yeah...”

“You know... I could go pay a visit to his mom, and take you with me. Maybe you both could talk and fix this.”

But Wallace had been too aggressive, too bitter and... Steven didn’t want to feel so heartbroken again. He didn’t want to insist.

“It’s okay like this.”

Now, this time, she proceeded to hug him tight, very tight, kissed his cheek, and then, said:

“Would you like to go on a walk with me, then? We can buy your Daddy a souvenir.”

Even if this felt a bit hypocritical from her after all the badmouthing she had done of his Daddy with her friends recently... Steven decided to flow with it.

“Yeah.”

“Your Daddy will be happy when he sees you got him something. He’s going to be very happy to see you again.”

And, Steven tried to think that, that was the most important thing there, above all, to go back to the man who loved him the most, to his funny and very good Daddy that surely at this point felt very alone without him.

* * *

After a long walk without any apparent direction, Wallace decided to rest behind the big tree nearby the Cave of Origin; it was a beautiful tree, the tallest out of all the city, and from time to time the flowers falling from it would look a lot like the Floette from the king AZ’s legend.

This mythical aura surrounding it was comforting for Wallace, that was why he liked going there; this little part of the city felt his and only his since he was the guardian and it was his duty to protect this place from the outside world.

At least there was one thing that made him important and necessary for this world. If only people cared about this one thing... 

If only he wasn’t so forgettable, so stupid, so lame and ugly...

He squeezed the stone in his hand.

That morning he woke up on such a fouls mood, and ended up arguing with Meredith and his mom, and after calling his sister an annoying bitch and being scowled because of it, he left the house all mad, and to try to canalize this ugly energy overflowing him, he went to swim downtown, at the sea, and tried to dive, to calculate how hard it would be for him to flee the city at once in case he ever needed it, and Maggie was there with him, and at one moment, she resurfaced, yes, but with something shiny on her peck.

Wallace grabbed it and... this was a deep blue stone. This surely was a gemstone, as it was tiny, yes, but beautiful and sturdy and shiny.

He could imagine it, and he was daydreaming it again now: Steven’s gorgeous eyes would sparkle with excitement and joy if he saw this, his lips would curve up in the biggest of smiles, and then, he would breath deeply before embarking into one of his rambles about rocks, comparing this one to one of his daddy’s collection, showering him with endless details about whatever this one was.

Yet... he would have to keep this one for himself, as, again, he was forgettable and stupid and ruined everything with the boy of his dreams.

So, sighing very deeply, Wallace wrapped his arms around his legs and hid his face between his knees, this pinching regret drumming in his heart.

He was an awful kid. So damn ugly in his ways and manners. No wonder why he got bullied, why everyone pushed him aside; he was an absolute burden, so unapproachable, too dramatic, exaggerating, too much for anyone, too much of an idiot, taking way too much space and time, too demanding of attention and too petty when he didn’t receive it. No wonder why he got the hate, why some people couldn’t stand him, why people felt the need to insult him and mess up with him, and-

“Hello there.”

He got too absorbed into his self deprecation moment that he didn’t even notice when someone else arrived. He only lifted his head a bit, to not be rude, because he already knew who this was, he could recognize this voice anywhere.

“Hello, Master Juan.”

The man asked politely, “do you mind if I join you here? The weather surely is hot today.”

“It’s alright,” he replied with only a small thread of voice.

He only listened to how Juan sat down beside him, not too close, not too distant, and then sighed.

“Isn’t your friend Steven around today?”

Wallace squeezed his lips for a second, “no,” he sighed, and even if he hadn’t talked with anyone about this yet as he was deeply ashamed of it, he really, really felt like he could talk to Juan, after all, he was successful and wise, “we aren’t friends anymore.”

This seemed to take him by surprise, but he played it up well, “for real?”

Squeezing his grip on his own knees, Wallace only limited himself to nod, trying to hold back these vicious tears he felt like shedding every time he thought of this, he didn’t want to cry in front of the great Master Juan, after all.

Very respectfully, Juan asked, “could I know why? Of course, if you feel like telling me.”

But he really needed to get this off his chest, it was too afflicting, too much to bear all alone.

“Because... I’m bad. I’m trash.”

This didn’t seem to answer any question, yet, Juan remained silent, letting him know he would listen to whatever thing he had to say.

And after a while, he found the words to keep going on, “we… we’re going to hang out on Monday… I was… meaning to tell him something… something… important. But then, he told me he was leaving to Rustboro this Friday… tomorrow… and… I mistreated him instead.”

He couldn’t help it, he was now crying, as silently as he could since he didn’t want Juan to know it, and so he only hid even more his face on his knees.

“I-I... called him insults... p-pushed him, a-and... said... I did-dn’t want to see h-him again...”

And he ended up sobbing, unintentionally, shaking in his place, shaking in this ashamed little ball he was now.

He was thankful Juan didn’t try to touch him, that he acted as if Wallace wasn’t crying at all.

“Was there any reason for it? I’m sure you would have a reason to act that way.”

Wallace sobbed for many, many seconds, each time he opened his mouth to talk he felt the lump on his throat squeezing tighter and leaving him speechless.

“I felt like he was... d-dumping me.”

“Dumping you?”

He hummed in agreement, “his dad’s rich, his friends are rich, they all give him expensive things, his friends have expensive video games, big houses, rich parents, babysitters... he’s going to forget about me like everyone does, I’m too lame to be remembered, to compete with his friends back at home. And… I can’t stand the idea of him forgetting about me like that.”

And after that, the silence settled above them, the distant chirping of some Wingull as background noise sounding every now and then.

Until Juan decided to talk as he noticed Wallace had elaborated all he felt comfortable to share.

“What did Steven do after that?”

“He chased after me. But I ran faster than him and got lost.”

“I see...”

He went silent for a while.

“You really like Steven a lot, don’t you?”

Once more he nodded, “he’s the best friend I’ve ever had. I just love being around him, he makes me feel so special... so loved. I… really just like him a lot.”

Liking was an understatement, he felt a lot more things for Steven than just that, he was so senselessly wrapped around his finger but this was very hard to put into words, and the fears of being judged and bullied for it did not help.

Juan hummed, “I’m sure he also likes you quite a lot. He looks happy when he’s around you, he is very attentive with you, he cares a lot about you, he treats you with such delicacy but never smothers you.”

And his voice went weaker, “but... I ruined everything... I always ruin it all... I’m bad, I’m ugly boy, that’s why... nobody loves me… not even my sister...”

Very empathetically, Juan hummed.

“You aren’t bad, Wallace, you are just a kid figuring out life. Even I as an adult sometimes screw things up, it’s normal, that’s what makes us humans.”

“B-But... you aren’t stupid like me... you are so much older and wiser… you wouldn’t do this to someone you love…”

“How do you think someone gets wise? Messing up,” Juan sighed. “I also had a friend and I loved being around her. One day I made something that hurt her, and I cried a lot when we divided up after this. And I’m a prideful one, Wallace, but back then I just understood that I had to... apologize.”

He lifted a bit his gaze to wipe his own tears, “I-I can’t do that... Steven will reject me for sure after all I said… I can't even… I’m just… so ashamed of all I said that I can't see his face again.”

“Apologizing isn’t an easy task, you are indeed risking to be rejected, and it’s also so very shameful to admit out loud all the wrong you’ve done, but I think that doing so even if you’re scared and ashamed of yourself, is one of the purest ways to show a loved one you care for them, because you care enough to risk your heart to get broken by rejection.”

Juan’s words totally made sense, he indeed was so wise, so smart, yet...

“A-And... what would I say?”

“Whatever comes from your heart. Steven will understand it as long as it is honest words.”

“I-I don’t know if I could d-do it... maybe I should just assume the consequences...”

“You could also accept it and deal with it, but do you want Steven to go back to Rustboro thinking you hate him?”

Gosh, that was such an awful suggestion, awful enough to bring tears to his eyes again.

Wallace shook his head.

“Give it a thought, Wallace. At the end of the day, it’s just me an old man talking, it’s up to you to decide whatever you think is better for you. And as you are very smart and intuitive as any good Sootopolitan is, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Wallace nodded now, and both went silent.

But now he had opened the floodgates Wallace couldn’t seem to stop; his chest had been aching, even, from holding back all of this to not worry his mom and not have Meredith judging him.

And now, Juan put a hand to his back, “it’s alright...”

It wasn’t alright, Wallace felt his heart drumming on his ears, the regret making his fingertips tingle, leaving him cold and restless.

“Come on now, it’s alright-”

But Wallace started to sob very loudly again, and Juan got closer, and so, out of instinct, he ended up looking for some traction on Juan, and now, he had his face all buried on his chest as the man wrapped his arms around him gently and traced soothing circles all over his back.

“It’s alright, boy. Cry all you need to. I’m here.”

At this point it was impossible to reply, he only held on tighter to Juan, clenching the fabric of his shirt between his weak fists, shaking there as he squeezed him tight as a response, keeping him warm, safe and protected from himself and his own messy feelings.

Wallace wasn’t sure how much time they spent it this way, he just cried and cried until no more tears would come out of his puffy eyes, until he got tired and bored from it, and either way, he remained there, as feeling Juan so close to him was comforting him way too much for him to want to pull away anytime soon. 

For as many seconds as he could, he enjoyed the scent of Juan’s expensive cologne, the sound of his heartbeat going slowly in comparison with his, how his breath was steady, steady enough for Wallace to try to get in sync with it and end up getting some easiness.

“Are we better now?”

Wallace nodded and pulled away, and then noticed a dark spot on Juan’s shirt.

“Oh... I’m sorry... your shirt... I ruined it.”

Gently, smiling, Juan shook his head, “don’t worry. Your well-being is more important than any shirt will ever be.”

“Uhum...”

“Now,” he placed both hands over his shoulders, “I thank you a lot for entrusting me with this. Know that if you ever need to talk to someone again, you can hit me up anytime. You know where to find me.”

“Yes…”

“And please… always remember that you are beautiful, both from the outside and the inside. You are worth a lot, Wallace. You are a very smart young man, and as such, you get overwhelmed easily because you notice things other kids don’t. You have to be patient with yourself, you’re still learning this art that’s called being a human, and believe it or not, you’re doing it amazingly well.”

He nodded, his heart feeling so soft and at ease now he was receiving such nice words from the man he admired the most. Maybe he could believe Juan when he said he wasn’t bad, or a trash, or forgettable and stupid…

Words didn’t seem enough to express how grateful he was that Juan bothered to take the time with him, and then, he remembered about the rock he was carrying with him, and... well, this seemed like a better fate for it.

“Master Juan?”

“Yes?”

“I... was swimming earlier today and Maggie found this rock. You can have it, for spending your time with me and for ruining your shirt.”

That surely made him laugh in a soft way.

“Wow, well, that’s such a pretty stone, I’m sure it’s a precious stone.”

“You think so?”

“I do. But, even if I’m flattered you want to give me such a nice gem, I’m pretty sure your friend will appreciate it more.”

His cheeks went rosy again.

“If for any reason you don’t give it to him then I’ll gladly accept it. Alright?”

For Juan to not worry anymore, Wallace nodded a bit more enthusiastically.

“Alright. Now. I think a bit of chocolate will lift up your energy. Wanna go for chocolate ice cream?”

“For real?”

Was his role model, the man he admired the most, really treating him for ice cream?

“Yeah. The day is very hot so I think it will be good for us to chill down a bit.”

“If it’s not too much of a bother...”

“Nothing of that.”

“O-Okay, then!”

And between this cloudy sky that was inside his heart at the moment, he finally found some solaceon: being able to share these moments with Juan made him feel very happy, as he admired him way too much and looked so up at him, so, having such a wonderful man taking his sweet time with him was so special, so unusual, and made him feel like at least he was worth _something_ , the smallest bit of _something_.

He wished he could only share this with Steven, tell him all about the time spent with the one and only, amazing Master Juan.

And again... the rock inside his pocket began to weigh heavily, very, very heavily.


	12. In love in every way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wallace doesn’t know many things as he’s still young and inexpert, but there’s one thing he knows for sure: he’ll regret his entire life if he doesn’t do this. After all, he knows better than anyone how long it takes waiting for a love like this.

It was Friday, early in the morning, and Wallace was already awake and all dressed up.

It wasn’t like he really did wake up so early in the morning to get in his sailor clothes: it was more that he couldn’t sleep the night before thinking of Steven, of his gorgeous eyes, of his soft blue hair, of how cute he was, of how much he was going to miss him, of how he wouldn’t ever feel this same way again for anybody else, because nobody would ever come close to the real beauty Steven was himself, of course from the outside, but also from the inside.

He was still pondering about what Juan told him; asking for forgiveness was a possibility, but maybe... he should man up and stick to his words even if his words were awful, maybe he needed to assume the consequences of his acts so he learned to never do them again.

Maybe he just had to let the best boy he had ever met go, maybe this was the best long term; saying goodbye to Steven would leave him too emotionally numb to endure all that would happen next in his life, maybe he couldn’t just accept his lose, maybe-

From outside came the loud noise of a helicopter flying over the city: not many helicopters arrived to Sootopolis, so this was sent by Steven’s daddy for sure.

And, the each time closer sound of helix working, insistent, echoed deeply inside of Wallace and-

Screw it.

Wallace was young, very young, he still ignored many things, he was far from being as wise as Juan, yet- he knew this for sure; he’d regret his entire life if he didn’t do this.

So, without asking for permission since his mom was still sleeping, Wallace snuck out of his house, taking that pretty rock he found with him, and ran as fast as he could to chase after the helicopter.

But- it was fast and the city had a ridiculous amount of stairs, and he had to beg Maggie to surf him to the other side of the crater to make it dry and quickly, but his clothes still got a bit soaked at the edges, making him shiver at the combination of how cold the morning was;

At some point he wanted to stop, his body demanding him to slow down and give up, but the helicopter was already in the rooftop of the Pokeéon Center and he knew it was a matter of minutes until it took the flight again, taking away Steven forever, and-

Wallace couldn’t allow Steven to be gone without some last words, without letting him know that he didn’t hate him, no, that in fact he loved him and loved him more than any word in their shared language or his mother tongue could ever express.

But he felt like running out of breath already, like he wouldn’t make it in time. But he imagined how sad Steven would be if he let him go like that and used his last rush of adrenaline to go inside the Pokémon center.

With his eyes he scanned the lobby to find the access to the rooftop, and it was right beside the counter, and like that, he ran to it.

“Hey, kid! You cannot go there!”

He was sure he got pale as a ghost:

“My- My friend is-”

“That’s a restricted area!”

“B-But!”

“Come back here!”

Should he anyway disobey and go up there risking to get himself in serious trouble or accept his fate and the consequences of letting his emotions get the best of him?

If only he wasn’t running out of breath maybe he could explain the actual situation.

“Come here!”

“Sorry, nurse, the kid comes with me.”

Was it...?

“Oh, Master Juan, do you know that kid?”

“Yes. He comes with me, now, would you allow us to the rooftop?”

“Um, I guess it's okay, then.”

“Thank you.”

Wallace puffed, incredulous, “Master Juan... how... did you know...”

“There’s no time to lose, my boy. Go rush, Steven is waiting up there.”

“Yes!”

Using his last saving of energy, Wallace walked every remaining stair until he was up on the roof and he saw it: there was Steven, along his mom, getting some suitcases inside the machine.

And-

Steven looked at his direction, and his eyes opened wide with surprise.

Wallace on the other hand, couldn’t help but step back, lowering his head and staring at the other side, displaying such shame.

“What’s up, Stevie?”

Edith also stared at his direction.

“Oh...”

And in that moment Juan also arrived, and feeling his presence behind him made Wallace feel a bit braver. 

“You wanna go with him, Stevie?”

Waiting for this reply almost drove Wallace insane.

Steven didn’t say anything, he just walked in his direction, skeptically, and Wallace already felt his heart horribly skipping, getting stuck in his throat.

To give them privacy, Juan headed to Edith’s direction and started up a casual chat.

And they remained quiet.

“You... you came.”

He just nodded, trying to swallow the lump on his throat to not cry there.

Then, he remembered Juan's words about apologizing, and forced them out of his mouth.

“Steven... I’m...”

He sighed.

“I’m... sorry. Very sorry for... treating you bad the other day. It’s just that... I’m so sad you have to go. I don’t want you to go... you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, even if I didn’t treat you as such, and...”

Steven tried to smile and laugh away such pain, but his mood also seemed altered, “so, you don’t hate me?”

“... no. I’m sorry for insulting you. I acted like an idiot and I’m just... very sorry and I understand if you don’t want to ever know anything about me again. I deserve it.”

“I’m also sad, you know? I really don’t want to go, and… And it was horrible to think you actually hated me for something that isn’t my fault...”

“Sorry, for real, sorry... I know I’m such a bad friend...”

But Steven broke this inertia, bringing back the color to his cloudy world.

“You aren’t a bad friend, Wallace. Sometimes friends make mistakes but... you are my best friend and I will always forgive you. I know you didn’t mean wrong… you never mean wrong.”

Juan had been so right, now he felt such a heavy weight lifting from his heart, making him feel a lot more collected to do this.

“I hope you have a good trip. Stay safe, please.”

“You too. I hope you and Maggie get very strong. Don’t let anyone mess up with you.”

“I... won’t,” and he took a deep breath. “Now... Steven... please... promise you won’t forget about me, okay? Because I won’t ever forget about you...”

“Stevie?”

Seemingly, they were in a rush.

“Gimme a moment, mom.”

He didn’t want to burden them anymore, after all, having so little time to talk had been his fault for being all petty before.

“Oh, guess I’m-”

“I won’t ever forget about you, Wallace. I’ll remember you all my life and I’m gonna miss you a lot because... You’ll always be my best friend. You’re also the best friend I’ve ever had, better than everyone else. I’m gonna miss you everyday.”

And once more, the pretty rock inside his pocket felt very heavy.

“Hey... to make sure you don’t actually forget about me… I... brought you something so you can remember Sootopolis, and me.”

And when he pulled out the gemstone, Steven’s eyes shone almost as brightly as it did.

“Ah! Wallace!”

It was a habit now; Wallace couldn’t help but smile at this endearing reaction.

“Is it a good one?”

He nodded very excitedly, his expression clearing up drastically, “it’s a sapphire! Where in the world did you find it?”

Getting flustered, he replied, “underwater. Maggie found it.”

“It’s amazing! This is my first gemstone ever! Can't wait for my Daddy to see it!”

And before his smile disappeared of his face, he had Steven hugging him affectionately, and Wallace... just let him do so, and rested his face on his shoulder, enjoying the last moments of being so close to Steven, missing him already, imagining in advance the lifetime that was about to come without him.

This felt like crumbling, like dying in his arms… like he could collapse in his knees right at this moment in a sobbing mess, but before any of that happened, Steven started stroking his back, and nervously, he added:

“You know... now that you gave me this... I feel like I should be giving you something in exchange.”

“What?”

Steven chuckled, nervously, “do you remember when we made the sleepover... how I told you I also had a secret?”

“Y-yes...”

“Well… you didn’t tell me yours but… Wanna know mine now anyways?”

Oh?

“Sure...!”

And so, taking advantage of the closeness this embrace provided, Steven got closer to his ear and whispered oh so very lowly, only for him to listen.

“I asked you if you liked boys because… now I also like boys.”

Ah, damn.

Damn.

Why didn’t he for the love of the lord dared to tell Steven his secret back in the sleepover?

Why didn’t he see this coming?

Why had he been so clueless?

Why… why was his heart beating so fast in sheer clarity?

When they pulled away, still holding hands, Wallace knew there was only one thing he wanted to do now, one risky thing that could give the worst of closures to a story, or be the thing he’d regret for a lifetime if he didn’t do.

He didn’t care if Steven’s mom or Juan would see this, no;

Maybe this was his sleep deprived brain deciding for him, his silly heart leading and pushing all reasons aside, but… Squeezing Steven’s hands, feeling the adrenaline numb his fingertips and cheeks, Wallace took a deep breath, closed his eyes, tilted his head, got on his tiptoes and kissed Steven right on the lips.

The kiss was short, it was just lips pecking, remaining almost too awkwardly motionless; it was nothing like the kisses of the movies, and even though...

This was the best first kiss he could’ve ever asked for. No other kiss from no other lips could ever compare with this feeling of his brain being blown away, his insides twisting in sheer dopamine rush, his arms yearning a lifetime of this, his lips melting under Steven’s sweet touch.

And when he pulled away from Steven, he understood it all.

The reason why this pain cut so deep wasn’t just that he had a crush on him, no, he had already gotten past that. If this stung so much in that little apprehensive heart of his that felt too small to contain such big emotion, it was because he was in love with Steven. He had fallen in love with him, somewhere in the road, between some protective hand holding, some adoring glare, some loving word, he had senselessly, truly, madly and deeply fallen for Steven.

He looked at his surroundings to check if someone had seen this and... Juan had his eyes wide open in surprise, incredulous by what he had just witnessed, and if Wallace felt scared Juan would’ve found that unacceptable and was now grossed of him for liking and kissing a boy... he gave him a thumbs up and got closer to Edith to make sure she wouldn’t storm that scene. 

The anticipation lingered above them like a heatwave, Steven remaining quiet for several seconds, blushing like mad, and if he had liked the kiss or not it wasn’t up to Wallace, no, he looked away, squeezed his hands bigger than his, and with a thin thread of voice said:

“My secret was that… you’re my crush, Steven,” words really meant too little when they came a little too late, yet, he was determined to finish this. “I’m going to miss you so much because… I love you like a best friend and more than that and… please… write if you can… alright?”

Too frantically, Steven nodded, running out of words, shivering in his spot, unable to elaborate an answer when he was still processing the kiss, twitching his lips madly.

“Stevie? Are we ready to go now?”

And squeezing his hands in exchange, it was Steven’s turn to make him run speechless.

“I love you, Wallace. I'll always be in love with you, so… you… you don’t have to worry, I won’t forget about you, I-”

“Stevie?”

As if these were his last words, he whispered, “I love you.”

Almost like fleeing a scene, Steven ran to his mom’s side after letting him now that this feeling was mutual.

And Wallace watched him go, unable to move, barely believing he dared to kiss him all of the sudden, incredulous that Steven also liked boys and most specially, him, and...

He remained so amazed and taken aback until the helicopter started to work, then, from the top of his lungs, he screamed:

“I love you, Steven!”

And Steven laughed that beautiful laughter of his and began to wave frantically.

“Goodbye, Wallace! I love you! Promise you’ll always remember!”

“I promise! I love you more!”

The helicopter began to elevate.

“Bye-Bye!”

And both kept waving at each other, both with tears in their eyes, and even if Steven was still near, still there, existing in the same place as him, Wallace already missed him, watching him go while dreaming away the rest of his life without him, watching him go until the helicopter drove to the other side, getting past the crater, and Steven was no longer within visual range.

When that happened, Wallace felt Juan getting beside him, putting a hand to his shoulder reassuringly, and he, he just hugged him with one arm, resting his cheek on his torso as some tears went out of his eyes, helplessly.

Lovingly, Juan ruffled his hair, and asked:

“Was it good, at least?” He hummed indulgently, “the kiss, I mean?”

Wallace chuckled, wiping his tears and nodding, “yeah…!”

His heart was still thudding viciously because of the kiss, his lips tingling, surrendering him feverish. 

“All those romcom protagonists would be very proud of you. This was like a kissing on the train station scene!”

He knew it, Juan was joking to make this moment lighter for him, less painful.

And squeezing him, the older man said, “you are very brave, Wallace. I’m very proud of you.”

If his heart was feeling totally torn apart by Steven’s departure, at least these words made it slightly more bearable.

Was Juan actually saying he was proud of him? Could the awesome Master Juan be proud of him in any way for this little display of his?

“I... barely did something.”

“No, no. Yesterday when we talked you were absolutely nerve wrecked. Now, you took courage to come here and apologize to Steven and show him how you truly felt. That’s a very brave thing to do. You didn’t even mind me and Edith were there.”

“So... you aren’t disappointed?”

“At all. A boy who likes boys is as normal as a boy who likes girls. Your feelings are normal, don’t feel ashamed of them.”

Juan was the very best. Once again Wallace could confirm it.

“Can you promise me something, Master Juan?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Please... don’t tell anybody about this. Especially not my sister. I’m still not ready for people to know that I… you know…”

“Nobody will know it, then. Your secret will be safe with me.”

“Thank you...”

And before he could keep moping, Juan proposed, “now... it’s fairly early. Would you like to go have breakfast? There’s a little restaurant nearby.”

Even if he had no permission from his mom to be out, Wallace nodded, “yeah.”

“Perfect, then, little man. Let’s get going.”

And even if Juan tried to make this feel better for him, to make multiple jokes and share details about himself to make Wallace feel more comfortable with what had already happened and feel less ashamed of it... deep down Wallace knew it.

Now Steven was gone, he’d miss him forever. Even if he could write, he was sure one day Steven would stop doing it, because things worked that way; Meredith’s ex boyfriends would send her letters, many of them, then grow used to it, until the letters became rare, the burning love got cold, and one day, stopped.

Steven wouldn’t be writing much, one day he’d stop knowing about him and all promise to stay in touch and forever love each other would be broken. But Wallace knew he would always wait for him, he’d always be looking for his face in every crowd, dreaming of meeting him again at any street corner. From this day on, he would forever wait.

As Wallace tried to act he was okay and walked through the streets with Juan, he started to get this shallow feeling deep inside his chest; Steven had been the best thing to ever happen to him, a little anesthesia from the harsh reality he was enduring, one real lucky shot, and the future appeared like a wall in front of him now, to think he would have to watch his mom go, endure such lose, without Steven, his very special friend beside him… was frustratingly painful, unbearable to think. Gosh, he was going to miss Steven so much, he already missed him so much that...

He had a feeling so peculiar that this love, this pain would be for evermore. A lifetime didn’t seem to be enough to erase this deep love and admiration Wallace saved for his best friend Steven and him alone.

And… his 9 years alive came down to this; to finding out who was his one true love, at the moment he was also losing him. And he knew from now on, Steven would haunt all of his what ifs. Steven would probably forget about him because that was how world worked, but Wallace wouldn’t ever stop thinking about him for much years he would live:

Because Steven was his first love, and first love is always the realest one, first love… never is forgotten. Never.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaand, this is everything for this week :)
> 
> This update was the real update. I worked the whole week on this and I hope the results were as good! I left y’all hanging last week because of the Originshipping week but I really, really hope that this update was worth the wait!!
> 
> Thank you for reading all of this, this was such a long update but I loved working on it! Please stay safe, and, yes... see you next week with the next update! <3!


	13. Lucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A promise is a promise, and Steven knows better than to break one.

In between the stillness of his office, the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Mr Steven Stone, it’s me, Lauren.”

“Is anything the matter?”

“Your guest, Wallace, is already here.”

And... damn.

His stomach dropped for a second and his blood went cold; Steven couldn’t still believe this was happening today.

He couldn’t believe it since the day Devon called to duty and this duty in specific implied getting to make a deal with Sootopolis’ gym leader.

When his dad told him he’d be doing so, out of sheer curiosity he sent someone to ask who currently was the gym leader, in hopes that it would still be Juan and somehow he could tell him anything about Wallace’s current whereabouts and deeds.

Yet, big was his surprise when the assistant told him:

“The new gym leader is this guy called Wallace. He’s recently gotten the spot, but he’s the one who you have to talk to.”

And ever since that day, he had been restless, burning in anticipation.

Because just the mention of Wallace’s name made him vividly remember those days he spent in Sootopolis with him; hanging out together, swimming together, having lunch together, sleeping together, crying together, doing everything together.

His nostalgic thoughts would always lead him to the day they said goodbye, most specifically, to that stolen kiss that shook his entire world and left him breathless for weeks on end. 

For days and days and more days after that Steven daydreamed with that kiss, his first kiss; so soft, so tender, so quick, so shy, yet so very brave. He would lay in his bed, stare at the ceiling and think about the kiss, getting so lost in this dreams of him kissing Wallace back. To be totally honest, even now sometimes he couldn’t help but think in all the ways he’d be reciprocating it now if Wallace ever tried to kiss him again.

At the beginning, they would write a lot to each other, and Steven remembered with a blush all of his first letters; each full of cheesy words, of love declarations, of “I love you, Wallace,” “I think about you everyday”, “you’re the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen”, “I want to hold you so much”, “I miss you”, “the stars remind me of your eyes”, “I wrote you a song the other day in the piano”, “I love you,”; and, because he saw it in a film, he would also spray the sheets with one of his daddy’s colognes before being delivered so Wallace could smell the nice scent and think about him in such lovely way.

And Wallace… he would reply with little poems, paints, whatever to express his love for him. His letters were as cheesy, full of “your eyes shine more than any gem ever will, my love for you crashes like the waves”, of little drawings of him holding Wallace’s hands with floating hearts all around them, Maggie and Aron smiling happily at them and their love.

Yeah, all these letters had been cheesy to a point that anybody else reading them would feel secondhand embarrassment, almost as much embarrassment as Steven felt when he reread these again, but the truth was that he also missed the little heart arrests he felt whenever another one arrived in the mail, another one he would have to hide well because he wasn’t ready for his Dad to know that he had a boyfriend of sorts.

Yet... as it had to be expected, not even a year after that, they lost communication.

All this flattery ended soon, given that one day, Wallace stopped replying to his letters, all of Steven’s love words going nowhere.

His Dad had this good friend that was also an Elite- Drake. He knew Juan. And so, one day when Drake paid them a visit in their house at Rustboro, Steven requested him to ask Juan about a boy called Wallace.

The reply? Juan said he hadn’t been in touch with him lately, because his mother had just passed away and he was too sad to even go out or talk anymore. 

After hearing these news, Steven sent him a last letter reaching out for him, but he couldn’t be sure if Wallace ever received it since, despite the seriousness of his words, it was never replied.

Then, it was months and months of checking the mail daily, just in case his reply letter was hidden somewhere, accidentally folded and cornered at the back of the mailbox, to always find bills and Devon documents, to no success and a lot of hopelessness. Steven’s heart wrinkled each time a bit more as he realized that for some reason, Wallace had decided to not talk to him anymore, to not tell him how he was doing or feeling.

And one day, after a long time of feeling like the other piece of his heart was lost somewhere across the sea, slowly, achingly slowly, he started to move on from this- or at least that he pretended.

Indeed, he began to fall for other people as he grew up, to get into relationships, to have breakups and makeups, however, in the back of his mind like a senseless illusion, he always had that hope to reunite with Wallace, see his gorgeous face again, get lost in his fervent embrace and pick up from where they left when they were just 9.

However, next time he ever knew something about Wallace this began to look impossible, because it was in quite an unexpected way- at least for him;

He had been at Johto, in a vacation, feeling so independent, so free, like everything was in order, and when he was walking on a street, he stopped by to pick up something that looked quite like an interesting stone, and when he stood straight after grasping it between his curious hands, in front of him appeared like a bad joke a billboard of a too familiar teal haired guy modeling and advertising nothing more and nothing else than makeup.

And Steven stood frozen in his spot, quite impressed that this was how he got to see Wallace again, staring at how very well done his makeup was, how nice his lips were painted, and unconsciously touching his own already, not quite believing that this man looking absolutely flawless for this advertisement was the very same who stole him a kiss back in Sootopolis.

Even if that day at the hill Wallace had ended up being right, and his mom sadly wasn’t there anymore to see it, he became a famous coordinator, and when he surfaced as an idol he could be found everywhere in the news, magazines, newspapers, just, everywhere. This was just the first of many random places where Steven would have to see Wallace’s face, becoming more achingly gorgeous every single time, looking more like everything he ever wanted.

However…

Steven was sure Wallace had met so many people now that he was famous and everyone wanted him, that he would barely remember the boy he met back in his little secluded town one time when they were 9. 

That was why, when they talked in the phone to arrange this meeting, Steven acted as professional as he could; Wallace was now famous and glorious, and it was pretty sure that he would pick to leave that chapter of his life in which he was petty and too emotional and dramatic and too weepy and besides that also bullied, buried underground to pretend it didn’t even happen;

After all, in hindsight, Steven could tell that too many harsh and traumatic things happened to Wallace all at the same very short span, so many that maybe his brain, for his own preservation, had decided to suppress certain memories, and if that meant to take away the memories of him... it would be all the way understandable.

And because of this, because it had already been a decade, because this happened when he was too young, he told himself to not have big expectations, to know better than daydream with someone he met at 9, someone who maybe wouldn’t want to remember those hard times now that he had his life so put together.

“Let him in.”

“Okay.”

After a whole decade and a bit more of silent and most likely one sided pining, it all came down to this moment.

To act cool and not make a joke of himself in case Wallace had turned into a diva (if so, it would also be understandable), Steven began to fidget a pen in his fingers, faking to actually be busy, until he listened to the door opening and-

His heart stopped for a second. He had to catch his breath when he saw Wallace at his doorstep.

Gosh.

How to even start off with him?

Such image felt as if he could waste him if he stared too much, but...

He was wearing a jumpsuit, with white pants displaying such a perfect, tiny waist, sharp hip bones and even a bit of perfectly toned v lines; this outfit also made visible his torso, well trained, and he was wearing a purple top to cover up his toned chest, the whole attire adorned with long translucid strips and- only one thing remained the same, and it was his beret.

Steven couldn’t believe his eyes... Wallace looked like a dream come true, like a true Sootopolitan guardian and a Master coordinator, so much that, he thought, if he ever dared do tell anyone that his first kiss had happened with him, with such brilliant man, they all would think he was absolutely lying to seem interesting, to compete with the thousands of fans he had.

He carried himself with confidence, a confidence that didn’t exist back in their days, holding his head up pridefully, seeming collected, so cool, so fresh. 

That at least, until Steven couldn’t help but smile like a fool and Wallace noticed it and also smiled widely, this being the non verbal response to all the doubts they surely had shared.

“Steven?”

“Oh my god, Wallace...”

He wouldn’t make himself await anymore; Steven stood to approach his old friend, excited, and when they were standing in front of each other he couldn’t help but cackle.

“How in the world are you so tall!?”

This man in front of him was ridiculously tall, maybe taller than 1.85 meters, Steven very quickly calculated.

At his question, Wallace covered his mouth with his hand and also laughed, “how comes you are so tiny now? I used to have to stare up at you and get on my tiptoes!”

“You were so tiny! I always thought you would always be small! When did you even grow such long legs?”

“One day when I was around 12 I just grew! I’m guessing it’s because of my Sootopolitan genes, I swear, my niece is also taller than most kids her age.”

He couldn’t help but gasp in absolute awe, “you have a niece now?”

“Yes, I do!”

“Oh my gosh... when did it even happen? Did Meredith get married at the end?”

“Gosh, it’s such a long, dramatic story but basically I became an uncle at 13. An uncle and like a backup mom, you know? Things didn’t change much and Meredith kept picking absolute idiots as boyfriends.”

This was a rather harsh suggestion, but just thinking that Wallace was now the uncle of someone, that there was a little someone nowadays who looked up at him…

“Dear lord... I guess your niece must be so beautiful.”

“She’s the cutest. I swear, she’s the love of my life, even if I spent Meredith’s whole pregnancy being petty and jealous, like, you know how I was, I’ve madly loved her ever since the first moment I held her in my arms. Which was basically her moment number one since it was me the one to help Meredith in labor.”

“Oh, for real?”

“Yes... it was one real mess, Lisia decided that the best moment to come was in the middle of the night, Maggie woke me up because Meredith’s cries were making her restless, the doctor was asleep, and while he arrived I had to basically play nurse myself and receive Lisia with my little knowledge about female’s anatomy since, well, it was only me and Meredith already.”

Too bad Steven knew exactly what that meant.

And he felt a little pit on his stomach: not only because of this suggestion of Faith being gone when her children were through such critical moment, no, it wasn’t only this but that a lot had happened in Wallace’s life once Steven left; his mother had passed away, he became an uncle, he raised a girl, he became famous and also a gym leader, and... Steven hadn’t been there to see it, no, he had been across the deep blue ocean separating them, imagining it.

Wallace took advantage of his dumbfounded silence to throw one of his appreciative lines.

“You look amazing, Steven. That suit looks fascinating on you. Sorry if it’s too straightforward but- I had to say it.”

Now he was excusing himself, as if he hadn’t been the one to stole his first kiss and his heart years ago.

“Oh, Wallace,” he wouldn’t hold back out of shyness, not anymore. “You just... are stunning. I’m so happy you can finally wear whatever you want, also makeup, in public and all.”

“You noticed the makeup?”

“Yeah. It really suits you and I’m happy you are wearing it so freely now.”

He smiled genuinely, “when you are a coordinator you can basically dress up however you want. It’s amazing.”

“I’m so happy you made your dream come true, I always knew you would.”

And, he tilted his head, “come on now... can I give you a hug? It’s been so long, I have to give you a hug now.”

“Of course you can...!”

And as if not a single day had been spent silent between them, Wallace wrapped him in his now strong arms, and Steven rested his head over his chest and this closeness felt as magic and warm as it felt a decade ago when they made a sleepover and shared a tent and Wallace was so very tiny and shy.

And, just...

Ah.

How horribly much he had missed Wallace, his best friend, his first love ever. A decade spent without him seemed insane now he was holding him again, breathing in his unmistakable sea salt scent, hearing his heartbeat.

When they pulled away Wallace looked as moved as that one time when he kissed him, and then broke down in laughter.

“Okay, okay... let’s get down to business. I’m sure you’re a busy man and don’t have all day to cry over old memories.”

Indeed, Wallace was right.

“Yeah... I kinda have to do something important after this.”

“Oh... well, I won’t steal much more of your time, then.”

Like that, they went down to business, and discussed everything that needed to be sorted out about this issue regarding both their sides, until between jokes and reminisces it was over.

“Well, Steven, it was utterly a pleasure to see you again after all this time.”

“I say the same.”

“Now... I’d love to make up some chat here, but you said you were busy after this, so-”

“Yeah. We’re busy after this.”

Puzzled, Wallace titled his head and asked, “we?”

As if he was still 9, still the diligent boy who would show Wallace other ways to regard things, he nodded excitedly, sublimely, “I once promised you that when we were adults I was going to take you on a date to my favorite burgers place here in Rustboro. It was a pinky promise so it was quite serious, add to that that I know you hate people who don’t stick to their words, so, I’m going to do what I promised back then.”

This made his friend blush like mad, his collectedness shattering to pieces as he blew air through his nose and shook his head tenderly; but he had met him like that, being temperamental and impulsive and weepy, and he had truly, madly and deeply loved him that way.

“Dear lord... if you would’ve told me this was gonna be a date I would’ve dressed up properly for the occasion.”

“It’s just burgers. Besides…” he was just going to say it. “You look gorgeous. You’ve always been this achingly gorgeous.”

Wallace laughed nervously, and shaking his head, asked, “okay, just, let’s make it clear... this will be like, a real date? Or just a gathering for the good old days sake?”

Trying to save his pride just in case Wallace wasn’t into this idea anymore and had actually grown from him, Steven said:

“I mean... if you want it to be a casual gathering for the old time’s sake, it can be that. But…” no, this wasn’t the time to step back. “Well, even if you stopped writing, I don’t remember you ever actually breaking up with me in any of those letters, so, if that’s a good sign to go by, and you still want it too, this could count as a date...”

He said it. Just like that. Steven wasn’t used to being this straightforward, but he spent a whole lifetime dreaming with this moment to not take the chance.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want this to be a date, it’s just that...” he had to stop for a second, and flipped his hair in such a lovely way that drove Steven insane- in the bestest of ways. “The fact that you remembered something you promised to me when I was being so petty, that you planned a date for us after more than 10 years... it’s one of the sweetest things someone has ever done for me.”

“How could I forget this promise when I was feeling so much when I made it and just couldn’t take my eyes off you?”

Wallace chuckled, “this is why you are still so important to me, Steven, like- nowadays there are thousands and thousands of people praising me for who I am, everyone can finally see what I’m capable of, but… you were the first one who ever saw potential on me, the first who believed in me, the first to see beauty on me like I was a little Feebas waiting to be fished, and that is why I will always owe you a big one.”

He swore he could be fainting right at this moment. Elaborating smooth, smart sentences seemed harder each time.

“So... it’s that a yes to... you know... go on an actual date with me even if we haven’t seen each other for years? You know, when I was 9 I didn’t dimension well all that a date meant, but... if you still want to go with it...”

“Of course I want to. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t cry myself to sleep once or twice daydreaming with this and missing everything that we could be.”

This must be a dream. Wallace couldn’t be here, looking this gorgeous and telling him all of these words he once yearned to listen. This had to be a dream.

If it was, he would take action before he could wake up. And if it wasn’t, that he was sure it wasn’t, he’d be turning to things everything he had dreamed as a kid, because he owed himself this much.

“Shall we get going, then?”

“Of course!”

Steven prepared all his stuff to leave the office, turned the PC off, fixed everything that was still to be fixed, and when he was at the doorstep, locking the gate, with that beautiful voice of his, Wallace started:

“Hey, Steven.”

“Yes?”

“Is it alright if... if I hold your hand, again?”

Ever since they parted his hand had felt a bit empty and cold.

“It still stands, silly. You can grab my hand anytime you want.”

And even if it was enough of an answer…

“Besides, since when do you ask for permission?” Steven cocked a brow, suddenly feeling overflowed of confidence. “That day on the rooftop of the Pokémon center you just kissed me without a warning, even if my mom and Juan were there, I shall remember you.”

Wallace’s gorgeous face went an utter shade of red as he mumbled uselessly, and then, laughed, standing straight, ready to fight.

“You didn’t seem too bothered by that in your following letters, huh? Shall I remind you of that one song that you sent me the lyrics of, that went something like ‘ _your lips are so sweet, Wall_ -’”

“Gosh, shut up!”

And like two mere kids, they started cackling, and when this fit of embarrassed, wholehearted laughter died down a little, Wallace sighed, stared right into his eyes, and with all honesty said:

“I missed you so awfully much. You have no idea.”

“Tell me that… when I told you I wouldn’t ever forget you, I actually doomed myself, because I haven’t stopped thinking about you in all these years.”

That statement alone was enough to make Wallace’s eyes water up-

And to be fair, Steven’s eyes also did water up a bit when he felt his best friend’s hand grab his, the bigger hand wrapping his entirely, giving him back all the feelings he once thought lost.

And totally carried away by the emotion, Steven fell into Wallace’s embrace again, humming tenderly, and Wallace squeezed him tight, bending down his head to plant such a soft kiss to his forehead, making his entire being shiver right on his spot, his cells melting.

“Steven…”

And this was enough.

“Wallace…”

Saying each other’s names felt like enough of a revealing declaration of all the love that still beat on their hearts, untouched.

But Wallace would never do things the simple way:

“Hey…”

“Mmm?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you this the entire time, it’s such a silly thing but I’ve been meaning to ask you this ever since I found it out.”

Smiling softly, whispering, he said, “what is it?”

“Did you ever find out what encountering a Luvdisc while you’re with someone means?”

Oh, not this.

He could feel himself getting dizzy over this question.

“When I saw it in a Pokédex I immediately thought of Meredith and almost cried of laughter… truly a mind ahead of her times…”

“She really was… I spent years being afraid of telling her about… well, this, thinking that she would find it unacceptable only to find out it was no news for her.”

“Well… guess we’ll have to find out if the rumors about Luvdisc are true…”

He was so feverish in this feeling, letting his heart speak for himself.

“You better give me a great date. Else we’ll have to call the Professor and ask him to change the dex entry for Luvdisc.”

“Let’s get going, then. You won’t regret it, I promise, and you know I never break my promises.”

And again, they laughed, both cheeks tingling indulgently, and so, they pulled away, ready to go, and when Wallace held his tinier hand again, his touch so protective, so lovely, it sunk on Steven’s head:

Wallace was different now; he was taller, his voice deeper, his hands bigger, his body more shaped, his accent stronger, his confidence more solid, his personality changed, his history new, with a lot of details recently added Steven didn’t know yet, a lot of unresolved answers, of stories that maybe he wouldn’t ever want to hear about, even.

This was a different Wallace, but...

Steven couldn’t wait to rediscover him again, to see him laughing and crying and being so unapologetically himself again. Because his friend had always been someone interesting as hell, precious, one in a million, an angel sent straight from heaven, the most amazing being to ever exist, and he would always want to have all of his beauty in front of him.

Now he was older and wiser, Steven wanted to go deeper, way deeper; know everything about him, with all honesty, without those silly fears that held them back from each other as kids. If Wallace allowed him to, he would make up for all these lost years and things he held back at first.

And, as they got out of the building, laughing and holding hands as if not a single day had been spent apart, Steven had a good feeling about this. 

Maybe they could pick up from where they left at 9, maybe this could lead to something great, and blossom into what fate had planned for them ever since that day they caught a Luvdisc together.

Maybe...

Maybe he wouldn’t have to miss Wallace anymore.

When he was little, Steven was always told he was a lucky kid; he had a beautiful mom and a rich daddy, a fancy house, all the toys he wanted, attended an expensive school, had many caretakers and cleaning staff around him to suffice his needs anytime.

And at this moment, as he held Wallace’s hand again, he could only pray to never run out of such luck he had as a kid, luck that back in the day had brought him close to Wallace, a luck that when he was little he couldn’t quite see until it was apparently lost. 

He couldn’t know it back then but, he was indeed such a lucky kid, and he could only hope his lucky star would forever keep shining and dancing over him and Wallace, his one and only, his first love, his best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END.
> 
> AH. WHAT CAN I EVEN SAY.
> 
> This is my third long work for this ship that I finish posting, and even if it was way shorter than the previous, it still feels very important uwu 
> 
> I wanna say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who supported this story! This spent the longest time trapped in my mind, and watching how y’all liked it made my heart very, very happy 🥺 life sometimes gets hard for me but posting for y’all always makes it a bit better 💖 so infinite thank you’s for the comments, kudos, bookmarks and all 💖 
> 
> Now. I have to say that after this I’m most likely going to take a break from posting regularly in order to work on my next long fic (which will feature again my OC Emily and obviously Steven and Wallace going though some new challenge), that I hope y’all look forward to once it’s finished and posted because I’m really, really elaborating many ideas and lore in it 💓
> 
> Once again, thank you a lot for reading this lil story of mine and hope to read y’all soon! Stay safe!


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